Nazila Fathi

Nazila Fathi
Born28 December 1970
Tehran, Iran
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
Websitewww.nazilafathi.com

Nazila Fathi (born December 28, 1970) is an Iranian-Canadian author and former Teheran correspondent for The New York Times. She also reported on Iran for both Time and Agence France-Presse. In her book The Lonely War, she interweaves her personal history with that of Iran, from the 1979 Revolution until, when continuing to report from Iran became life-threatening in 2009, she was forced into exile.

Biography

Fathi was born in Tehran in 1970.[1] Her father was a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Energy.[2] She studied English at Azad University, and while there began working as a translator for foreign reporters.[1] From that beginning she became a stringer for The New York Times, Time, and Agence France-Presse.[3]

Frustrated by the Iranian government's multi-year press accreditation process, Fathi moved to Canada in 1999 and became a Canadian citizen.[4] She earned an MA in political science and women's studies from the University of Toronto in 2001 before returning to Tehran as a correspondent for The New York Times.[3][5]

During the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests, Fathi and other journalists reported on the violence by the Iranian government against peaceful protestors. In early 2009, the Iranian government banned international journalists from stopping coverage of the protests,[6] but Fathi continued to report. In June 2009, other journalists were arrested by Iranian authorities.[7][8] Fathi was placed under surveillance by the government, and threats were made against her life. In July 2009, she and her family left Iran for Canada.[1][9][10]

She subsequently became an associate at Harvard's Belfer Center, a Nieman Fellow and a Shorenstein Fellow.[3][11]

Fathi's book The Lonely War was published by Basic Books in November 2014.[1][12][13][14] Fathi also translated Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi's book, The History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran.[11]

Bibliography

Nonfiction

  • Lonely War: One Woman's Account of the Struggle for Modern Iran (2014)

Children's books

  • My Name Is Cyrus (2020)
  • Avicenna: The Father of Modern Medicine (2020)
  • Razi: The Man Who Discovered How to Make Alcohol (2021)
  • The Persian Warrior and Her Queen (2021)

References

  1. ^ a b c d Mozaffari, Nahid (31 December 2014). "Nazila Fathi's 'The Lonely War' is a Memoir of Iran". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Nazila Fathi interview with Anna Maria Tremonti on The Current (11 December 2014). Nazila Fathi's account of growing up in Revolutionary Iran (Radio program). Toronto: CBC Radio. Event occurs at 3:50 minutes in. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "Full Details: The Lonely War". Basic Books. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  4. ^ Nazila Fathi interview with Anna Maria Tremonti on The Current (11 December 2014). Nazila Fathi's account of growing up in Revolutionary Iran (Radio program). Toronto: CBC Radio. Event occurs at 14:05 minutes in. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  5. ^ Fathi, Nazila (16 January 2010). "The Iranian Exile's Eye". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "Iran bans international journalists from covering rallies". CNN. 16 June 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  7. ^ "Newsweek Reporter Detained". Newsweek. 21 June 2009. Archived from the original on 24 July 2009.
  8. ^ "Iranian newspaper raided, employees detained". Committee to Protect Journalists. 23 June 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  9. ^ Cohn, Martin Regg (17 November 2009). "From Tehran to Toronto for the Times". Toronto Star. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  10. ^ Fathi, Nazila (27 October 2014). "Nazila Fathi's Story of Fleeing Iran with Her Family". Vogue. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  11. ^ a b Jahnke, Mark R. (16 February 2012). "15 Questions with Nazila Fathi". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  12. ^ Ahmari, Sohrab (28 January 2015). "A Pawn of the Mullahs". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  13. ^ Navai, Ramita (9 January 2015). "Book review: 'The Lonely War,' a woman's account of modern Iran". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  14. ^ Duggan, Charlotte (17 January 2015). "Exiled journalist details three decades of unrest in Iran". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 28 April 2015.