PARSIPUR

This is the second time in as many months that someone has written a piece attacking poor Parsipur and defending Mahshid Amirshahi on the grounds of the former's personal opinions on certain issues. Grow up, people. And this nonsense is coming from individuals obviously living abroad. [See: "Nah eshgh, nah toofaan" and "Mozele baanuye saal"] Who cares what a writer thinks about this or that issue, what matters is her work. If we were to disqualify writers and filmmakers and poets based on their politics or positions on social issues then T.S. Elliot or Ezra Pound should never be read.

What is this, Stalinist literary criticism practiced by the right of centre? I haven't read anything from Ms. Amirshahi although I'm aware of her fine reputation as a writer but regardless of how fine a writer she is, Men Without Women and Touba are some of the finest literature that has come out of Iran in the past 25 years. Perfect, no but what is?

Parispur's time in prison has nothing to do with my assessment (neither would Ms. Amirshahi's defense of Bakhtiar government influence my assessment of her work) although only bitter pathetic individuals can actually attack her for having written her memoirs of the dark times she spent there; pathetic indeed considering they make their attacks from the comfort of Europe and America�.