Entekhabifard, Camelia 1973-

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Entekhabifard, Camelia 1973-

PERSONAL:

Born 1973, in Tehran, Iran.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY.

CAREER:

Journalist. Writer for Iranian reformist newspapers, including Zan, for six years; imprisoned for her journalistic activities for three months in 1999; granted political asylum in United States, 2000; reporter for Associated Press, Reuters, and Eurasia Net.

WRITINGS:

Camelia: Save Yourself by Telling the Truth—A Memoir of Iran, translated by George Murer, Seven Stories Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including Village Voice and Mother Jones.

SIDELIGHTS:

Camelia Entekhabifard, an Iranian-born journalist, is the author of the critically acclaimed work Camelia: Save Yourself by Telling the Truth—A Memoir of Iran, described as "a haunting document of repression" by a contributor in California Bookwatch. Entekhabifard opens her work in 1979, when Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi fled the country following months of protests against his regime. Despite the political tumult, the author's family stayed in Iran, and Entekhabifard became a nationally recognized poet and, later, a well- known journalist for Zan and other newspapers.

In 1999, Entekhabifard was jailed for three months for her journalistic activities. "When [Iranian cleric Mohammad] Khatami took power and there were so many reformist papers that bloomed, you felt you were free, that you could trust society and write whatever you believed," Entekhabifard told Sepideh Saremi of Amrikaee.com. "And partly I blame those reformist politicians who led us to believe it was okay, that they protected us and they let us bloom, and they gave us the opportunity to show ourselves, and then we became targets." While in prison, Entekhabifard cultivated a romance with her interrogator, who helped secure her release. She later immigrated to the United States, where she reports on Iranian and Afghan affairs.

Camelia received generally strong reviews. "Entekhabifard brings unique courage and insight to her practice of journalism," observed Booklist contributor Deborah Donovan, and a critic in Publishers Weekly noted that the author "intercuts accounts of various incidents, so that heavier stories—like her romance with her interrogator—emerge gradually." According to Saremi, Entekhabifard's memoir "is less about telling the truth than about what happens when truth is suppressed, freedoms must be engineered, and stories are lost in translation."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Entekhabifard, Camelia, Camelia: Save Yourself by Telling the Truth—A Memoir of Iran, translated by George Murer, Seven Stories Press (New York, NY), 2007.