The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen - Shokoofeh Azar

Azar, Shokoofeh: - Born in Iran in 1972, Shokoofeh Azar was the first Iranian woman to hitchhike the entire length of the Silk Road. She worked as a newspaper editor and journalist in Iran, covering issues relating to women's rights. After several arrests in connection with her work as a journalist, on advice from her family, she fled Iran in 2010, and was granted asylum in Australia, where she has lived as a political refugee since 2011. She is the author of essays, articles, and children's books. Her first novel, The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree , was shortlisted for the Stella Prize for Fiction and the International Booker Prize, and was a finalist for the PEN America Award and the National Book Award for Translated Literature. Her new novel, The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen , has already received two awards for a manuscript-in-progress, one from The Australian Council for the Arts and the other from Victoria Creative.