Moaveni on MWU

Azadeh Moaveni is interviewed over at MWU! about her new book, Lipstick Jihad, which, you guessed it, has a veiled woman on the cover. At least this one’s talking on her cell phone though, instead of looking frightfully and submissively at the camera. (I kid, Azadeh, I kid.)

MWU!: In the past decade, several books have been published by either Western journalists or Iranian-Americans about their experiences in Iran. What would you say distinguishes your memoir?
Moaveni: It’s an exciting time to be an Iranian writing about Iran because there is so much to write about. Azar Nafisi’s book, Reading Lolita in Tehran, has had a tremendous impact on the interest in the topic. Also, many of these accounts do not cover much the developments after 1997. My book picks up where others have left off. The election of President Khatami created a dramatic opening in debate which changed the Islamic Republic from below. There was a convergence of the election with the maturing of a post-Revolution generation huge in number, fearless of authority, informed about politics and engaged politically. This youth became the cultural force for changing Iran from below.

Moaveni appears on March 4th in NYC, where you can listen to her read from her memoir.