SHAHRNUSH PARSIPUR, born in Iran in 1946, began her career as a fiction writer and a producer at Iranian National Television and Radio. Shortly after the publication of Women Without Men in 1989, Parsipur was arrested and jailed for her frank and defiant portrayal of women’s sexuality. While still banned in Iran the novel became a bestseller there, and has been translated into many languages around the world. Parsipur is also the author of Touba and the Meaning of Night, and now lives in exile in North California.
Howard Zinn was a historian, playwright, and social activist. He was a shipyard worker and a bombardier with the U.S. Army Air Force in Europe during the Second World War before he went to college
Hoshang Merchant (b. 1947) has authored twenty-nine books of poetry, literary commentary, translations, memoirs, and anthologies including Yaraana: Gay Writing from India (1999) and most recently Secr
Ruth Rosengarten is an artist and writer. She lives and works in England. She received her PhD in art history at the Courtauld Institute in London, and has lectured in South Africa, Portugal and En
Ajaya Kumar Naik is Associate Fellow, IIDS, New Delhi, and has had more than 10 years of research experience in the fields of informal sector, employment, and poverty.
