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Reading Tehran

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"Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood" and other graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi

"Strange Times, My Dear: The PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literature ," edited by Nahid Mozaffari and Ahmad Karimi Hakkak

"The Secret of Laughter: Magical Tales from Classical Persia," by Shusha Guppy

CLASSICAL POETRY Edward FitzGerald's translation of "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" ; Dick Davis's translation of Ferdowsi's "Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings "; Gertrude Bell's translations of Hafiz; and the works of Rumi.

VIDEO ART AND DVD: Shirin Neshat's video art; "Babak and Friends: A First Norooz," a story for children about the Persian New Year.

FILM "Under the Olive Trees," by Abbas Kiarostami. A story about love in a country where the public expression of love is forbidden.

MUSIC Kayhan Kalhor and Ali Akbar Moradi's "In the Mirror of the Sky"; Kalhor and Mohammad Reza Shajarian's "Night Silence Desert."

FOOD AND CULTURE OF FOOD "New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies," by Najmieh Batmanglij.

PHOTOGRAPHY "Iran the Beautiful," by Daniel Nadler.

Of course, these are but snippets to give you a taste of Iranian culture. You could also take a stroll and have lunch at a Persian market and restaurant such as Yekta in Rockville to get a whiff of Persian scents and spices. . . .

info@azarnafisi.com

Azar Nafisi is the author of "Reading Lolita in Tehran" (Random House).

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