The House of the Poles

Marjan Shir Mohammadi is both an actress and a writer, as well as the wife of the celebrated Iranian director and screenwriter Behrouz Afkhami. She was born in 1973 and managed to win the Golshiri Foundation’s Book of the Year Award for her first book. This book is narrated from the perspective of a 10-year-old boy who lives with his mother and grandmother in a house that used to be a residence for Polish settlers, during the years before the revolution. Based on the story, it seems that this house is located in one of the neighborhoods in southern Tehran. The characters in the story are described in full detail from the very beginning, and the reader does not encounter any complex elements, as the author herself states: “Honestly, I neither favor nor understand employing complex techniques in stories or exaggerated style in prose. In any case, this is my method of storytelling. I believe that the essence of storytelling lies in the story itself, and if anything else is added to it, it will ruin it. The essence is the story that must be told in a healthy, eloquent, and proper manner.” This book has been published by Cheshmeh Publications.