An urgent, groundbreaking and visually stunning new collection of graphic story-telling about the present Iranian revolution from Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis.

‍A collaboration of activists, artists, journalists, and academics working together to depict the historic uprising — with comics that show what would be censored in photos and film in Iran — in solidarity with the Iranian people, in defense of feminism.

‍“Woman, Life, Freedom is a rallying cry.” —Marjane Satrapi and Abbas Milani in their introduction to the book.

On September 13th 2022, a young Iranian student, Mahsa Amini, was arrested by the religious police in Tehran. Her only crime was that she wasn’t properly wearing the headscarf required for women by the Islamic Republic. At the police station, she was beaten so badly she had to be taken to the hospital, where she fell into a deep coma. She died three days later. The plight of this 22-year-old woman raised a wave of protests that soon spread through the whole country, and crowds adopted the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom.” Around the world, these words have been chanted during solidarity rallies.

In this powerful visual collection of graphic novel style essays, Marjane Satrapi has gathered together intense narration by herself and an array of journalists and writers with graphic art perspectives from esteemed collaborators including Coco, a press cartoonist at Charlie Hebdo; Patricia Bolaños, a Spanish illustrator based in Brooklyn; Mana Neyestani, an Iranian cartoonist and illustrator; and Paco Roca, a Spanish comic book artist, Shabnam Adiban, an Iranian illustrator based in Toronto, among others. Together, these are the artists and story-tellers Marjane Satrapi has chosen to tell the story of a major revolution happening in her homeland of Iran today that has inspired support from around the world.

Woman, Life, Freedom includes:

·  Full colour art that bears witness and provides context for this major event for Iran and for all women from 18 exceptional graphic artists.

·  Perspectives on Iran from three experts—long-time journalist for Libération and political scientist Jean-Pierre Perrin; researcher and Iran specialist Farid Vahid; and UC Berkley historian Abbas Milani, Director of the Iranian Studies programme at Stanford University.

·  Hand-drawn art and writing from activists, artists, journalists, and academics, collaborating from around the world in support of the cause.

Woman, Life, Freedom demonstrates that this is not an unexpected movement, but a major uprising in a long history of women who have wanted to affirm their rights. It will continue.

    Contributing artists, including four Iranians. Joann Sfar, Coco, Mana Neyastani, Catel, Pascal Rabate, Patricia Bolanos, Paco Roca, Bahareh Akrami, Hippolyte, Shabnam Adiban, Lewis Trondheim, Winshluss, Touka Neyastani, Bee, Deloupy, Nicolar Wild, Hamoun. (Two artists have taken a pen name, Bee and Hamoun.)

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Click here to read an interview with Marjane Satrapi in The Guardian

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"A small miracle of lively, serious and joyful intelligence, like Marjane.”
—Elle (France)

"[A] riveting collection of illustrated stories... Woman Life Freedom offers an engrossing portrait of a population held back by restrictive leaders.”
—The Economist

"Through bold visualisation of protests and political repression, Satrapi (who lives in Paris) and her co-collaborators Farid Vahidi, Abbas Milani and Jean-Pierre Perrin aim to inspire audiences both inside and outside Iran and to reinforce solidarity with those in the country. While only bootleg copies will make it to Iran, theirs is a vivid and painful testimony of the deep popular frustration percolating across Iran and the underlying hope that accompanies it. In this fluent translation by Una Dimitrijevic, illustrations contributed by 17 artists add colour to vignettes that describe events around Mahsa Amini’s death and the protests that followed … These stories don’t always flow from one to the other. But together they shed light on the diverse, dynamic nature of Iranian resistance, social contradictions around faith and ultimately a collective yearning for a better Iran. But together they shed light on the diverse, dynamic nature of Iranian resistance, social contradictions around faith and ultimately a collective yearning for a better Iran.”
—Financial Times

"This remarkable volume examines the Iranian feminist uprising following the 2022 beating death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the morality police for not wearing her headscarf properly. Introduced and illustrated by Satrapi, this collaboration of 20+ journalists, artists and experts is a clarion call for uprising, collectivity and continuance.”
—Ms. Magazine

"Through art, rebellion can find a voice, challenging the prevailing order, and reshaping narratives. . . . The book serves as a solid reminder to readers of the delicate nature of perseverance through political and social upheaval; diverse perspectives and life stories merge Women Life Freedom  to create a solid narrative.”
—London School of Economics Blog