Book Talk

This month, our Book Talk panel turns its attention to the popular autobiographical graphic novel Persepolis, by French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi. With a title that references the ancient capital of the Persian empire, Persepolis is a coming-of-age tale that spans some of the most unsettled years in Iran's recent history. The first volume tells the story of Satrapi's life in Tehran from the ages of six to fourteen, during which time she experiences the Islamic Revolution and the devastating Iran-Iraq war. The second volume marks her adolescence in Vienna, and her struggle to reconcile the girl she was with the woman she is becoming. Joining Sasha de Buyl are Damon Herd, PhD researcher at the Scottish Centre for Comic Studies, and Mona Vaghefian, Communications Coordinator for the Edinburgh Iranian Festival. The panel discusses the graphic novel's popularity with a wider audience, the new insights that the book offers on the history of Iran and the outsider perspective that Satrapi seems to experience