The Sunshine Coast Arts Council Literary Committee presents a reading by Nilofar Shidmehr. Iranian-born Shidmehr is the author of two collections of short fiction and four books of poetry in English and Persian. She is also an essayist writing on a wide range of social and political issues including women’s rights, migration, displacement, and belonging in relation to Iranian diaspora. Her novella in verse, Shirin and Salt Man, was a finalist for the BC Book-Prize.

On October 10th she’ll be reading from her most recent publication, Divided Loyalties. This collection of nine short stories is aptly titled. The Iranian women at the heart of each story are forced to choose: between what is morally right and social convention; self-sacrifice and self-fulfilment; personal freedom and familial duty or finally between countries - Iran or Canada. But wherever the characters are living, Canada or Iran, they are always fighting against the rigid traditional constraints of being an Iranian woman. Shidmehr’s stories unfold with a simplicity that at times jars against the emotional often brutal honesty of their inherent dilemmas. Romantic longing is set against stark sexuality. Her choice of language is often poetic “Words lose their shape in my mouth”.

She will present a live reading followed by a moderated discussion.