Shahrnush Parsipur, acclaimed Iranian author of Women Without Men, dies aged 80
Penguin Press has paid tribute to the late Iranian writer and activist Shahrnush Parsipur (1946 to 2026), who has died aged 80.
In a statement shared with The Bookseller, the publisher said it was “deeply saddened” to hear of Parsipur’s passing, describing her as “one of Iran’s most celebrated contemporary writers”.
Parsipur began her career as a fiction writer and producer at National Iranian Television and Radio before being imprisoned for almost five years by the Islamist government without formal charge. Following her release, she published Women Without Men and was arrested and imprisoned again for its “frank and defiant portrayal of women’s lives and sexuality”.
Although banned in Iran, Women Without Men became an underground bestseller and has since been translated into many languages. It was longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2026 in its Penguin International Writers edition, translated from Persian to English by Faridoun Farrokh.
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Penguin will publish Prison Memoir in 2027, which will appear in its entirety in English for the first time, and Touba and the Meaning of Night in 2028. Parsipur spent much of her later life in exile in northern California.
Her UK publisher Denise Rose Hansen said: “Shahrnush’s legacy in literary history can’t really be compared to anyone else’s. Her singular vision and incredible courage have been, and will continue to be, a guiding star for so many people. Being in touch with her just a few days ago, she was as she always was: generous, warm, forthright, quick, brilliant. She will be profoundly missed.”
