Reading Lolita in Tehran

About “Reading Lolita in Tehran”

Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Azar Nafisi gathered seven female students in her home to read forbidden Western literature. The students came from different backgrounds—some from conservative families, others from progressive ones. Some had been imprisoned. Initially shy and uncomfortable, they gradually removed their veils and began to speak openly. They discussed novels by Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov, as well as their own lives, dreams, and struggles. As fundamentalists tightened control over Iran, Nafisi's group found freedom through literature. Reading Lolita in Tehran offers a rare look at women's lives in revolutionary Iran, highlighting the power of literature to inspire resilience and self-expression.