Book Talk: “Children of Paradise: The Struggle for the Soul of Iran”

Feb 16, 2017 6:30 PM
LAU New York

6.30 PM: Book Discussion
7.30 PM: Book Signing & Reception

In partnership with the Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program (BGIA)

Laura Secor will discuss  her new book Children of Paradise: The Struggle for the Soul of Iran in conversation with James Ketterer. The book narrates the unprecedented history of Iran since it became the first revolutionary theocracy in modern times. The country has been largely a black box to the West, a sinister presence looming over the horizon. But inside Iran, a breathtaking drama has unfolded since then, as religious thinkers, political operatives, poets, journalists, and activists have imagined and reimagined what Iran should be. They have drawn as deeply on the traditions of the West as of the East and have acted upon their beliefs with urgency and passion. Children of Paradise will stand as a classic of political reporting; an indelible portrait of a nation and its people striving for change.

Laura Secor has written about Iran for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, and other publications, and has worked at The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The American Prospect, and Lingua Franca. She has been a fellow at the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center and the American Academy in Berlin, and has taught journalism at NYU and Princeton.

James Ketterer is Dean of International Studies at Bard College, where he also teaches Middle East politics. He is also the director of the Bard Globalization and International Affairs program in New York City. 

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