Moniru Ravanipor
Encyclopedia
Moniro Ravanipor Moniro Ravanipour is an internationally acclaimed innovative writer who is the author of ten titles published in Iran, including two collections of short fiction, Kanizu and Satan’s Stones, and the novels The Drowned, Heart of Steel, and Gypsy by Fire. Her tales, described as “reminiscent in their fantastic blend of realism, myth, and superstition of writers like Rulfo, Garcia Marquez, even Tutuola,” frequently take as their setting the small, remote village in southern Iran where she was born. Nahid Mozaffari, editor of Strange Times, My Dear: The International PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literature, writes that Ravanipour “has been successful in the treatment of the complex subjects of tradition and modernity, juxtaposing elements of both, and exposing them in all their contradictions without idealizing either.” Ms. Ravanipour was among seventeen activists to face trial in Iran for their participation in the 2000 Berlin Conference, accused of taking part in anti-Iran propaganda. Copies of her current work were recently stripped from bookstore shelves in Iran in a countrywide police action. She is a former Brown University
International Writers Project Fellow.
, South of Iran
. Lived in Bushehr
till she was 17, and moved to Shiraz
for Pahlavi Private High school.
Joined Shiraz Pahlavi University in 1972 and studied Chemistry, and then changed major and took a degree in Psychology.
She started theatre in Bushehr
and joined the Theater and Literary Society of Bushehr
.
called The Theatre and Literary Society of Bushehr
. In 1967 Moniro acted in Mother, A play by Manouchehr Atashi
. She then continued to act and participated in the production of several plays in Shiraz
. Moniro worked with a group of college students for a play called Abazar Ghafari which was banned later. In 1975 she joined Shiraz Theatre Group for producing a play named Moalem, by Shapour Jowrkesh, and in 1976 participated in Tous Theatre Festival, and worked with Shapour Jowrkesh again ,for a play named Khoubchehr.
, her family moved to [Shiraz]], and then Moniro moved to Tehran
and using a fake name , worked as a worker in Daroupakhsh Factory. After her true identity was revealed using another fake name she worked for another six months in Amidi Factory. Later she worked the grave yard shift nurse in a private hospital, again using a fake name. In 1983 Moniro went back to Shiraz
to visit her parents, and she got arrested on the street, when the regime was doing the random arrest of the citizens. It was during the terrible prison days that she decided to become a writer of big fame and success when she is free again, so she would not get killed and forgotten like many others were.
A year after Iran-Iraq War
she went to the City Khanaqin
boundaries, for writing a novel about war using the identity of a Martyr's mother.
After 1988 Moniro published her works using her real name and in 1994 for the first time she was invited the Women's studies Organziation of Vienna
. Later she was invited for speeches to 21 countries, and then she was invited by: Khaneh Farhanghaye Jahan, Goethe-Institut
, Literary Center of Gumusluk
, Bodrum
, Gotenburg expo in Sweden
, Heinrich Böll Foundation
, in Germany
, France
, U.S.A., and ...
In 2006 she moved to the U.S. getting an scholarship in Brown university
and then at UNLV's Black Mountain Institute's City of Asylum as a visiting author for three years.
During her stay in the U.S. she has gone to Sacramento
, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Providence
, for lectures and speeches. Her short stories have been translated into: French, German, Swedish, Turkish, English, Arabic, Kurdish, Chinese,...
Fables for Children/Games for Children/A Collection of Children’s Songs /three books and audio tapes: Iran Cassette Co.
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
International Writers Project Fellow.
Early life
Moniro Ravanipour was born on 1952, in BushehrBushehr
Bushehr Bushehr lies in a vast plain running along the coastal region on the Persian Gulf coast of southwestern Iran. It is the chief seaport of the country and the administrative centre of its province. Its location is about south of Tehran. The local climate is hot and humid.The city...
, South of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. Lived in Bushehr
Bushehr
Bushehr Bushehr lies in a vast plain running along the coastal region on the Persian Gulf coast of southwestern Iran. It is the chief seaport of the country and the administrative centre of its province. Its location is about south of Tehran. The local climate is hot and humid.The city...
till she was 17, and moved to Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...
for Pahlavi Private High school.
Joined Shiraz Pahlavi University in 1972 and studied Chemistry, and then changed major and took a degree in Psychology.
She started theatre in Bushehr
Bushehr
Bushehr Bushehr lies in a vast plain running along the coastal region on the Persian Gulf coast of southwestern Iran. It is the chief seaport of the country and the administrative centre of its province. Its location is about south of Tehran. The local climate is hot and humid.The city...
and joined the Theater and Literary Society of Bushehr
Bushehr
Bushehr Bushehr lies in a vast plain running along the coastal region on the Persian Gulf coast of southwestern Iran. It is the chief seaport of the country and the administrative centre of its province. Its location is about south of Tehran. The local climate is hot and humid.The city...
.
Acting and Theatre Experience
Moniro joined a theatre group in BushehrBushehr
Bushehr Bushehr lies in a vast plain running along the coastal region on the Persian Gulf coast of southwestern Iran. It is the chief seaport of the country and the administrative centre of its province. Its location is about south of Tehran. The local climate is hot and humid.The city...
called The Theatre and Literary Society of Bushehr
Bushehr
Bushehr Bushehr lies in a vast plain running along the coastal region on the Persian Gulf coast of southwestern Iran. It is the chief seaport of the country and the administrative centre of its province. Its location is about south of Tehran. The local climate is hot and humid.The city...
. In 1967 Moniro acted in Mother, A play by Manouchehr Atashi
Manouchehr Atashi
Manouchehr Atashi was a Persian poet, writer, and journalist.He was born in 1931 in Dashtestan, Bushehr province His poetry is the poetry of the revolting warrior of the humiliated southern tribesman. He takes his work seriously and although attached to his native birthplace his poems are...
. She then continued to act and participated in the production of several plays in Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...
. Moniro worked with a group of college students for a play called Abazar Ghafari which was banned later. In 1975 she joined Shiraz Theatre Group for producing a play named Moalem, by Shapour Jowrkesh, and in 1976 participated in Tous Theatre Festival, and worked with Shapour Jowrkesh again ,for a play named Khoubchehr.
Post Revolution
In early post revolution years she was involved in political activities and was banned from studying. During these years, her brother was executed, all her sister were banned from education in elementary and high school, one of her sisters and her husband were sentenced to death penalty and escaped [Iran]], one of her brother in laws got arrested several times. For a decade, she couldn't have a stable place of residence due to the mentioned situation, and she moved from one place to another. She wrote her first short story collection in 1977 named "The Sparrow and Mr. President" which was immediately banned from publishing and collected from shelves. After their house was attacked and pillaged in BushehrBushehr
Bushehr Bushehr lies in a vast plain running along the coastal region on the Persian Gulf coast of southwestern Iran. It is the chief seaport of the country and the administrative centre of its province. Its location is about south of Tehran. The local climate is hot and humid.The city...
, her family moved to [Shiraz]], and then Moniro moved to Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
and using a fake name , worked as a worker in Daroupakhsh Factory. After her true identity was revealed using another fake name she worked for another six months in Amidi Factory. Later she worked the grave yard shift nurse in a private hospital, again using a fake name. In 1983 Moniro went back to Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...
to visit her parents, and she got arrested on the street, when the regime was doing the random arrest of the citizens. It was during the terrible prison days that she decided to become a writer of big fame and success when she is free again, so she would not get killed and forgotten like many others were.
Writing Career
Moniro started writing again from 1965, and wrote childrens' books and screen plays.A year after Iran-Iraq War
Iran-Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...
she went to the City Khanaqin
Khanaqin
Khanaqin is a city in Iraq. It is located at 34.3°N, 45.4°E in the Diyala Governorate, near the Iranian border on a tributary of the Diyala River...
boundaries, for writing a novel about war using the identity of a Martyr's mother.
After 1988 Moniro published her works using her real name and in 1994 for the first time she was invited the Women's studies Organziation of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. Later she was invited for speeches to 21 countries, and then she was invited by: Khaneh Farhanghaye Jahan, Goethe-Institut
Goethe-Institut
The Goethe-Institut is a non-profit German cultural institution operational worldwide, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and relations. The Goethe-Institut also fosters knowledge about Germany by providing information on German...
, Literary Center of Gumusluk
Gümüslük
Gümüşlük, a seaside village and fishing port in Turkey, is situated on the remains of the ancient city of Myndos. The remains of the foundations of buildings can be clearly seen in the knee deep water that leads to Rabbit Island. This island is very successful because you can see all the boats...
, Bodrum
Bodrum
Bodrum is a port city in Muğla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region of Turkey. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of Gökova. The site was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times and was famous for housing the...
, Gotenburg expo in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Heinrich Böll Foundation
Heinrich Böll Foundation
The Heinrich Böll Foundation is a German, legally independent political foundation. Affiliated with the German Green Party, it was originally founded in 1987 and rebuilt in 1997...
, in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, U.S.A., and ...
Style
She is famous for using magic realism, but the truth is that she uses the bitter reality she found in the happenings and real life in her homeland. Despite the bold use of surrealism and magical realism, she uses realism too. The settings of her stories are not just the rural world, but her work pictures life and culture in the urban life as well.In 2006 she moved to the U.S. getting an scholarship in Brown university
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and then at UNLV's Black Mountain Institute's City of Asylum as a visiting author for three years.
During her stay in the U.S. she has gone to Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Providence
Providence
Providence may refer to:* Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island* Divine providence, the idea of divinely ordained events and outcomes- Entertainment :* Providence , a French/Swiss film directed by Alain Resnais...
, for lectures and speeches. Her short stories have been translated into: French, German, Swedish, Turkish, English, Arabic, Kurdish, Chinese,...
Short Story Collections
- 1977 -The Sparrow and Mr. President
- 1988- Kanizu
- 1990 -Satan’s Stones
- 1993- Siria, Siria
- 2001- Frankfurt Airport’s Woman
- 2002- Nazli
Childrens' Works
- Snow White,The Most Beautiful Star of the World, An new version of Kadoo Ghelgheleh Zan : Nashr-e Markaz
- four books and audio tapes: Sahar Co.-
Fables for Children/Games for Children/A Collection of Children’s Songs /three books and audio tapes: Iran Cassette Co.
- three books: Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults
- twelve books(an adaptation of Saadi's Golestan): Amoo Zanjirbaf