A Note to My Readers
We have no control over the most fundamental aspects of our lives. We do not choose where we are born, or when, or to whom. We are born into social and cultural traditions, and often religious ones, which shape us directly and by virtue of our resistance to some of our inheritance.
Our own personal qualities are often beyond our control as well. For years, I’ve meant to lose six little kilograms, roughly 13 pounds. One kilogram per month for half a year, and I would have achieved my goal…and yet here I am, writing this with those six stubborn kg still with me.
I believe that each one of us is a unique expression of shared influences: our own personal nature can only grow when it draws on resources we share with others. My own nature inclines me to seek connection with the broader world through writing. As a Middle Eastern woman, I live in a world of stark limits and often arbitrary boundaries. Writing knows no limits. It is the way I slip past boundaries and slide over walls into open lands, green meadows, and endless blue skies. With every whisp of cloud that passes by, ever fresh breeze that tousles my hair, and every flitting butterfly that captures my imagination, I know that this land is mine to create, to enjoy, and to share.
I like to picture an enormous oak tree near the center of this meadow, offering shade for my readers while they relax on the soft grass. Come and take a break from the hectic pace and capricious demands of daily life, and enjoy the refuge I have imagined for us.
Author’s Bio
Helen Afshar is a highly acclaimed author, educator, and activist in her native Iran. She began writing in 2006 with her first novel The Foreseen Surprise. Since then, she has published several successful books in genres including historical fiction and fiction.
Her books Atousa, The Daughter of Cyrus the Great and Moon Rock, quickly became bestselling sensations in her home country and garnered her many accolades and media attention.
TIn 2009, Helen joined the NGO, the Women and Youth Environmental Protection Society of Gilan, her current residence in Northern Iran. In 2014 she earned her master’s degree in geopolitics and joined Iran’s Geopolitics Association. She went on to teach Geopolitics at a university and published and presented many papers about geopolitics of the Middle East region. She also published Iranian Identity, a book on geography and critical social theory, based on her master’s thesis.
When she’s not writing, teaching, or headlining a speaking engagement, Helen enjoys spending time with her husband and son. Together with her son, Ramtin she explores different mediums of art for self-expression.
She is currently working on a series of short stories and a new historical fiction.