Ghahramani, Zarah 1981-

PERSONAL:

Born 1981, in Iran; immigrated to Australia, 2004. Education: Attended Tehran University. Religion: Muslim.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

CAREER:

Writer.

WRITINGS:

(With Robert Hillman) My Life as a Traitor (memoir), Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 2008.

SIDELIGHTS:

Zarah Ghahramani was born in 1981, in Iran, to a family that recalled the days prior to the revolution, even if she did not, and raised her in an atmosphere that rebelled, at least in private, against the strict rules and regulations set down by the current government to dictate how Iranians should live. Though not vocal in their feelings, Ghahramani's family longed for the days of the Shah. Despite this, Ghahramani was not an overly political woman, nor did she seek to make trouble. However, once she began college, attending classes at Tehran University, she became interested in political reform. At twenty years old, she was a language student and involved in the student outcry that demanded more freedom in their studies, freedom that would allow them to choose the books they read and the clothes they wore to school and to move about the city. Then, during the autumn of 2001, protesting with her fellow students, Ghahramani made the fatal mistake of tugging the edge of her head scarf back just a few inches as she was walking in the street. By doing so she was breaking the law, and it was enough to get her arrested. Ghahramani spent twenty-nine days in Evin prison, a notorious detention center in Iran where she was systematically interrogated and broken until she was willing to tell the people that imprisoned her anything just to stop the torture. My Life as a Traitor, written with assistance from Australian author Robert Hillman, is the story of her experiences during that time, as well as the fear that followed her in the months following her release and up until her eventual escape from Iran to Australia.

Hillman met Ghahramani on the streets of Tehran approximately eighteen months after she had been released from Evin prison. When she told him her story, she still had short hair beneath her scarf, as it had been kept short while she was in prison. She was also suffering lapses in memory as a result of the torture she underwent in Evin. Worse than anything, though, was the constant sense that she could be pulled off the street and imprisoned again at any time for any reason. After her release, Ghahramani stopped making political speeches or acting in any way she felt might draw attention to herself. However, she had admitted to accusations while in prison—to being a spy for the United States, for example—just to stop the torture. These statements were not true, but they were documented in her prison files, and Ghahramani suspected that these records were enough cause for her to face prison again. In an interview for Mother Jones Online, she explained: "I wasn't giving any speeches or writing anything, but I would see my other friends arrested again and again, and I thought eventually that would happen to me, too. Even if you've just contacted an old friend, that could be a reason to get arrested if you have a previous record." Hillman encouraged her to leave the country, but it took many months for her to agree. Only when her father forced her to look at herself in a mirror, to really see the devastating downward spiral that was ruining her health and emotions, did Ghahramani finally agree to try to leave Iran. With Hillman's assistance, she managed to make the frightening trip to Australia, and to eventually obtain a visa.

Critics reacted warmly to Ghahramani's account of her terrifying experiences in My Life as a Traitor. Hilary Hatton, in a review for Booklist, dubbed the book "unsettling and unflinchingly honest," and called Iran "a country the rest of the world is struggling to understand." A Publishers Weekly reviewer stated that Ghahramani's "straightforward style, elegant in its simplicity, has resonance and appeal beyond a mere record."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Ghahramani, Zarah, and Robert Hillman, My Life as a Traitor (memoir), Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 2008.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 2007, Hilary Hatton, review of My Life as a Traitor, p. 10.

Entertainment Weekly, December 21, 2007, Lisa Schwarzbaum, review of My Life as a Traitor, p. 83.

Marie Claire, January 1, 2008, "29 Days of Beatings, Torture, and Confinement: Zarah Ghahramani Tells Her Story," author interview, p. 67.

New York Times Book Review, January 6, 2008, Sarah Wildman, "Caught in the Ayatollah's Web"; January 9, 2008, William Grimes, "Color Her Protest Pink (and Floral)."

Publishers Weekly, October 22, 2007, review of My Life as a Traitor, p. 47.

School Library Journal, February 1, 2008, Sarah Flowers, review of My Life as a Traitor, p. 142.

ONLINE

Curled Up with a Good Book,http://www.curledup.com/ (August 13, 2008), Barbara Bamberger Scott, review of My Life as a Traitor.

Herald Sun Online,http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/ (September 22, 2006), Robert Hillman, "A Life on the Edge," author information.

Independent Online,http://www.independent.co.uk/ (February 21, 2008), Michael Church, review of My Life as a Traitor.

Mother Jones Online,http://www.motherjones.com/ (January 4, 2008), Kiera Butler, "Thirty Days in Iran's Worst Prison," review of My Life as a Traitor.

One-Minute Book Reviews Web site,http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/ (February 11, 2008), Janice Harayda, "Inside a Hellish Iranian Prison," review of My Life as a Traitor.

Shiraz Socialist Web site,http://shirazsocialist.wordpress.com/ (January 19, 2008), review of My Life as a Traitor.

Sydney Morning Herald Online,http://www.smh.com.au/ (February 17, 2007), Robert Hillman, "Looking for Peace, Not Pity," author information.