Sahar Delijani

• Name — Sahar Delijani • Born — 1983 • Birthplace — Tehran, Iran • Occupation — Novelist • Language — Persian, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Azeri • Education — University of California, Berkeley (BA) • Notable Works — Children of the Jacaranda Tree

Sahar Delijani was born in Evin Prison in Tehran, while both her parents were detained as leftist political activists, fighting against the newly established Islamic regime. Delijani's mother spent two years and a half in prison and her father four years. Her uncle, her father's younger brother, however, was among thousands of political prisoners executed and buried in mass graves by the regime in 1988. Delijani, her older brother and her cousin were raised by her grandparents and aunt until their parents' release. Much of this experience, inside and outside Evin Prison, serves as an inspiration for Delijani's debut novel, which spans the decades from 1983 to 2011 and the Iranian Green Movement, when young Iranians once again take to the streets, set to make their own history. In 1996, at the age of 12, Delijani and her family moved to Northern California. In 2002, she attended the University of California, Berkeley, earning a BA degree in Comparative Literature. Graduating in 2006, she moved to Turin, Italy where she lived for over 10 years. She now lives in New York City.