News Release — March 4, 2009

Azar Nafisi To Speak As Part of Harry Ransom Lectures

EVENT: The Harry Ransom Center presents "Reading Lolita in Tehran" author Azar Nafisi as part of the Harry Ransom Lectures. A book signing of her new memoir, "Things I Have Been Silent About," follows.

WHEN: Thursday, March 12, at 7 p.m.

WHERE: AT&T Conference Center, 1900 University Ave.

BACKGROUND: Nafisi is best known as the author of the national bestseller "Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books," a portrait of the Islamic revolution in Iran and how it affected one university professor and her students. "Reading Lolita in Tehran" is an incisive exploration of the transformative powers of fiction in a world of tyranny. Nafisi is a visiting professor and the director of the Cultural Conversations at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., where she is a professor of aesthetics, culture and literature, and teaches courses on the relation between culture and politics. Nafisi has written for The New York Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. Her latest book, "Things I Have Been Silent About," is a memoir about her mother.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Doors open 30 minutes before the program begins. No reservations required, but seating is limited.

The Harry Ransom Lectures honor former University of Texas Chancellor Harry Ransom and highlight the Ransom Center's vital role in the university's intellectual and cultural life. The program brings internationally renowned writers, artists and scholars to Austin for public events and conversations with students. The lectures are made possible by the support of the University Co-operative Society.