UNA DIMITRIJEVIĆ was born in Bosnia, grew up in Scotland, and now lives in France. She translates from Serbo-Croat and French into English. Her translations of The Mental Load: A Feminist Comic and The Emotional Load and Other Invisible Stuff were published by Seven Stories Press in 2018 and 2020.

JEAN-PIERRE PERRIN is a journalist, war correspondent, and reporter who covers the Near and Middle East, and currently the Iran correspondent for Médiapart. His books have been awarded the
Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle and the Joseph Kessel Prize.

FARID VAHID is an Iranian political scientist. He graduated from the University of Tehran in electrical engineering and from Sciences Po Lyon in international relations. He now lives in Paris where he is director of the Observatory of North Africa and the Middle East of the Jean Jaurès Foundation.

ABBAS MALEKZADEH MILANI is an Iranian-American historian. He is a visiting professor of political science and director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. He is also a researcher and co-director of the Democracy in Iran Project at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.

Contributing artists, including four Iranians. Joann Sfar, Coco, Mana Neyastani, Catel, Pascal Rabate, Patricia Bolanos, Paco Roca, Bahareh Akrami, Hippolyte, Shabnam Adiban, Lewis Trondheim, Winshluss, Touka Neyastani, Bee, Deloupy, Nicolar Wild, Hamoun. (Two artists have taken a pen name, Bee and Hamoun.)

*"Satrapi (Persepolis) brings together a sweeping anthology of political essays in comics form that takes its title from the protest chant of the feminist uprising in Iran following the 2022 beating to death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police for wearing her head covering "improperly." In entries representing the stunning breadth and vitality of the Iranian resistance movement, the government's oppression of women is framed as just one symptom of a diseased and dying system. "The guy who wants to control your body and your life also wants to control what you're thinking and not thinking.... It's not just about the veil," warn Bahareh Akrami and Farid Vahid in the volume's opener, "Sparking a Revolution." The following sections dig into state censorship and spy networks; the brutality of the Revolutionary Guards; the abuses in Evin prison, a "hellhole" where the incarcerated are forced into false confessions; the corruption represented by "the aghazadeh," high-living young elites; and the "Blue Girl," a female soccer fan, imprisoned for attending a match, who self-immolated in protest. The impressive spectrum of art ranges from Par Mana Neyestani's claustrophobic crosshatching, to Joann Sfar's charmingly loose lines, to Touka Neyestani's unforgettable caricature of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei strolling into a sea of blood. Interstitial drawings by Satrapi in her trademark, fiercely thick-lined style include a gorgeous portrait of Amini with her hair flowing like flames. The result is a stirring call for change that reminds readers "the art of rebellion is an everyday battle." -- Publisher's Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)

" The author of Persepolis returns with a collection about burgeoning activism in Iran. In September 2022, the beating and death of Mahsa Jina Amini, an Iranian student arrested for not wearing her headscarf properly, incited a solidarity movement among women and men that spread around the world. To publicize and bear witness to this major uprising, Satrapi has gathered stories, cartoons, and essays from more than 20 artists, activists, journalists, and academics. The author has two aims: "to explain what's going on in Iran, to decipher events in all their complexity and nuance for a non-Iranian readership, and to help you understand them as fully as possible"; and "to remind Iranians that they are not alone." Setting the movement in context, Iranian American historian Abbas Milani offers an overview of the political upheavals and revolutions that have led to the current misogynist, repressive regime and the "resolute defiance" that has emerged in protest. As each contributor attests, life under a wrathful dictatorship is consistently frightening and dangerous: "The Islamic Republic ensures its own survival by murdering people. During the successive demonstrations" over Amini's murder, "several hundred people were killed in an attempt to strike fear into the hearts of protesters. Young people were forced to confess under torture." Women are especially vulnerable. Since November 2022, young students in schools across Iran have been poisoned by toxic gas as part of an attempt to force girls' schools to close. Protecting the regime falls to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a paramilitary organization that answers directly to Khomeini, the Supreme Leader, and for the past four decades has carried out a reign of terror. This collection pays homage to victims and celebrates the dreams of Iran's determined activists. Other contributors include Joanne Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, Paco Roca, and Mana Neyestani. An impassioned message of rage and hope." -- Kirkus

"The visual medium enhances the storytelling and creates an immersive reading experience that accessibly communicates information. In my favorite vignettes, such as "In the Heart of the Diaspora," I felt like I was eavesdropping on conversations that felt both familiar and incredibly complex, much as I felt while reading Persepolis." --Kelly Blewett, BookPage (STARRED REVIEW)

"Woman Life Freedom offers an engrossing portrait of a population held back by restrictive leaders"--The Economist