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Issue Details: First known date: 2017... 2017 The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'This book is an extraordinarily powerful and evocative literary novel set in Iran in the period immediately after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Using the lyrical magic realism style of classical Persian storytelling, Azar draws the reader deep into the heart of a family caught in the maelstrom of post-revolutionary chaos and brutality that sweeps across an ancient land and its people. 

'The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree is really an embodiment of Iranian life in constant oscillation, struggle and play between four opposing poles: life and death; politics and religion. The sorrow residing in the depths of our joy is the product of a life between these four poles.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Dedication: Dedicated to all those I know : dead and alive.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Cheltenham, Brighton - Moorabbin area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Wild Dingo Press , 2017 .
      image of person or book cover 5291151035359929611.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Booktopia
      Extent: 272p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 1st August 2017

      ISBN: 9780987381309
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Europa Editions ,
      2020 .
      image of person or book cover 1243527283368291835.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      ISBN: 9781609455651, 1609455657
    • Cheltenham, Brighton - Moorabbin area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Wild Dingo Press , 2020 .
      image of person or book cover 519039516764114827.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 288p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published October 2020.
      ISBN: 9781925893939 (pbk)
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Europa Editions ,
      2021 .
      image of person or book cover 6636963606490322161.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      ISBN: 9781787703100, 178770310X
Alternative title: اشراق درخت گوجه سبز
Language: Farsi
    • Cheltenham, Brighton - Moorabbin area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Wild Dingo Press , 2018 .
      image of person or book cover 2276639843285980127.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      ISBN: 9780648349822, 9780648349853

Works about this Work

Five Memorable Trees in Books We Love, from The Magic Faraway Tree to Too Much Lip Claire Nichols , 2022 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , August 2022;

'I read a lot of books in my job. And over the last several years, I've noticed an intriguing trend. Trees are popping up everywhere.'

Why Iranians Continue to Seek Refuge in Australia Shokoofeh Azar , 2020 single work criticism
— Appears in: World Literature Today , Summer vol. 94 no. 3 2020; (p. 38-43)

'Shokoofeh Azar moved to Australia as a political refugee in 2010. Her novel The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree, originally written in Farsi, was shortlisted for Australia's 2018 Stella Prize for Fiction and the 2020 International Booker Prize. Here she recalls her refugee journey from Iran to Christmas Island and reveals why Iranians continue migrating to Australia, despite the absence of war.' (Introduction)

[Review] The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree Andrew Martino , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: World Literature Today , vol. 94 no. 2 2020; (p. 96)

— Review of The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree Shokoofeh Azar , 2017 single work novel
'Shokoofeh Azar's The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree is an astoundingly imaginative work of fiction with deep roots in Persian culture. The novel depicts the life of a family forced to flee Tehran for the countryside after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. The narrator of the novel is a thirteen-year-old ghost named Bahar, who was killed in a particularly horrifying way. Bahar is the youngest of three siblings: Sohrab, her older brother, is arrested, tortured, and eventually executed; and Beeta, an older sister, is transformed into a mermaid. Her mother, who attains enlightenment after spending three days and three nights atop a greengage tree overlooking the village, struggles to make sense of the events that have disrupted their lives. Bahar’s father is perhaps the most melancholic of the family. He is the quietest, most introspective of the five and is also the last to survive.'  (Introduction)
Australian Author Shokoofeh Azar Shortlisted for International Booker Prize with Novel Inspired by Iranian History and Folklore Claire Nichols , 2020 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , April 2020;

'In 2011 the writer Shokoofeh Azar found herself in a strange country, with a strange dilemma.' 

New Points of View Found in Translation Neve Mahoney , 2019 single work essay
— Appears in: Eureka Street , 28 July vol. 29 no. 15 2019;
[Review] The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree Andrew Martino , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: World Literature Today , vol. 94 no. 2 2020; (p. 96)

— Review of The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree Shokoofeh Azar , 2017 single work novel
'Shokoofeh Azar's The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree is an astoundingly imaginative work of fiction with deep roots in Persian culture. The novel depicts the life of a family forced to flee Tehran for the countryside after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. The narrator of the novel is a thirteen-year-old ghost named Bahar, who was killed in a particularly horrifying way. Bahar is the youngest of three siblings: Sohrab, her older brother, is arrested, tortured, and eventually executed; and Beeta, an older sister, is transformed into a mermaid. Her mother, who attains enlightenment after spending three days and three nights atop a greengage tree overlooking the village, struggles to make sense of the events that have disrupted their lives. Bahar’s father is perhaps the most melancholic of the family. He is the quietest, most introspective of the five and is also the last to survive.'  (Introduction)
Shimmering Twist to Magical Realism Miriam Cosic , 2017 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 23 September 2017; (p. 22)

'Persia was the centre of some mighty dynasties over the millennia, including the far-flung Achaemenid Empire that Cyrus the Great establi­shed in the 6th century BC. It wasn’t until Muslim Arabs defeated a later Persian dynasty, the Sassan­ians, in AD 651, that Persians were forced to adopt Islam and abandon their fiery state religion, Zoroastrianism.

'As in all conquests that force cultural change, it wasn’t entirely successful. The Persian­s bitterly resented their new overlords and pockets of Zoroastrianism remain today, though followers are now estimated at fewer than 190,000 worldwide. Yet it was the Persians, long a highly literate people, who codified Arab­ic grammar and made the language the cornerstone of classical Islamic culture.' (Introduction)

Shokoofeh Azar on The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree 2018 single work interview
— Appears in: The Stella Interviews 2018;

'Shokoofeh Azar is shortlisted for the 2018 Stella Prize for her novel The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree. In this special Stella interview, Shokoofeh shares the experiences that informed the novel, the writers that inspire her work and how writing is a means of resistance.' (Introduction)

Provocative, Political, Speculative : Your Guide to the 2018 Stella Shortlist Camilla Nelson , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 11 April 2018;

'Six years ago, The Stella Prize burst onto the Australian literary scene with an air of urgency. The A$50,000 award was the progeny of the Stella Count – a campaign highlighting the under-representation of women authors in book reviews and awards lists. In the years since, the prize has challenged the gendered ways in which we think about “significance” and “seriousness” in literature.' (Introduction)

Australia’s Taste for Translated Literature Is Getting Broader, and That’s a Good Thing Alice Whitmore , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 22 May 2018;

'With today’s announcement of the winner of the Man Booker International Prize shortlist, translation again finds itself in the foreground of the literary landscape. This year’s shortlist includes novels translated from a diverse array of languages including Arabic (Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi), Hungarian (László Krasznahorkai’s The World Goes On) and Korean (The White Book by Han Kang).' (Introduction)

New Points of View Found in Translation Neve Mahoney , 2019 single work essay
— Appears in: Eureka Street , 28 July vol. 29 no. 15 2019;
Last amended 30 Nov 2023 16:05:54
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