Born in Iran in 1946, Shahrnush Parsipur is the author of seven novels, numerous short stories, and a memoir of her time in Iranian prisons. She was jailed for her writing several times in Iran, first by the Shah's secret police, and later by the Islamic Republic. Her most recent imprisonment resulted from her frank treatment of women's sexuality in the novel Women Without Men. Several of her novels have been published in Europe. All are currently banned in Iran. Parsipur has been recognized by the Lillian Hellman/Dashiell Hammet Fund for Free Expression of Human Rights Watch. She now lives in exile in California.