Donne Raffat

The Prison Papers of Bozorg Alavi: a Literary Odyssey (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East) Donne Raffat 1st edition

Out of my interviews with Alavi in East and West Berlin grew the first part of this book - a portrait of the writer in his twentieth year in exile. Along with this, I have attempted here to give the social, political, and literary background of the prison stories. Part Two provides a translation - the first, to my knowledge, in any language - of Alavi's Scrap Papers from Prison. Part Three, on the other hand, came about mainly as aresult of time and cirsumstance. By the ime I finished drafting the first two sections, it was evident that Alavi's life was about to undergo a major change and that this was due to the changing political situation in Iran; which, in turn, prompted another visit to Iran. -- (Excerpt from Preface)