We’re delighted to share an excerpt from the riveting novel Vis & I (l’Aleph, March 15, 2017), winner of the 1998 “Novel of the Year” Literature Award, written by the acclaimed Iranian writer Farideh Razi and translated from the Persian by the accomplished writer, translator, and multimedia artist Niloufar Talebi. Vis & I is an interior monologue during a harrowing cab ride through the streets of Tehran as Pardis rushes to the airport to stop her lover from leaving. Multiple narrative threads and flashbacks, real and imaginary voices–primarily that of Vis, the heroine of the Persian epic romance, Vis & Ramin–interweave in this gritty, postmodern love story. Vis & I poses the ultimate challenge: to exercise the strength of will that Vis has come to represent in the Iranian literary canon and psyche in the vindication of a forbidden love and being true to oneself. This is a compelling read we hope it will transport you. Happy National Translation Month and happy reading!
—Claudia Serea and Loren Kleinman
