Marjan Kamali

Marjan Kamali is an Iranian-American novelist whose fiction explores identity, family, friendship, love, and the lasting effects of history on ordinary lives. Born in Turkey to Iranian parents, she spent her childhood living in Turkey, Iran, Germany, Kenya, and the United States before settling in America. She earned a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of California, Berkeley, an MBA from Columbia University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University. Her international upbringing has had a profound influence on her writing, particularly her portrayals of displacement, belonging, and the Iranian diaspora.

Kamali made her literary debut with Together Tea, but achieved worldwide recognition with The Stationery Shop, a bestselling novel that intertwines romance and history against the backdrop of political upheaval in Iran. She followed its success with The Lion Women of Tehran, another internationally acclaimed novel centered on friendship, resilience, and the lives of women across decades of Iranian history. Her novels have been translated into more than thirty languages and have resonated with readers around the world for their emotional depth and richly drawn characters.

In addition to her novels, Kamali has written essays and short fiction for numerous publications and has received a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship. Widely recognized for blending intimate personal stories with historical events, she has become one of the leading contemporary voices in historical and multicultural fiction, offering nuanced portrayals of Iranian culture and the immigrant experience.