Sahar Delijani is an Iranian author. Her internationally acclaimed debut novel, Children of the Jacaranda Tree, has been translated into 32 languages and published in more than 75 countries. She was born in Evin Prison in Tehran, while both her parents were detained as leftist political activists. Delijani, her older brother and her cousin were raised by her grandparents and aunt until their parents' release.

"I was born in Iran in 1983, four years after the revolution. Both my parents were secular, leftist political activists. In 1983, my parents were arrested, along with my uncles and aunt. My mother was pregnant with me when she was taken. I was born in Evin Prison, in a hospital affiliated with it. My mother kept me with her for about a month before I was handed to my grandparents. They raised me, my 2-year-old brother, Rouzbeh, and our cousin, Siavash—who was also born in prison—until our parents were released. 

" I think that there is probably no difference, from the book or reader’s perspective, between me having had those experiences personally or sort of coming up with a story to tell. You always have kind of a structure; a foundation and you start from that. If was definitely difficult emotionally because some of the characters were people who were very close to me. Even I was fictionalizing things, although I knew about whom I was talking about. I was talking about my mother and I couldn’t pretend that I’m not. There were many moments when I needed a break or to stop for a while, to keep a distance from the characters, from the book, because I didn’t want to get too sentimental. There were many up and down moments.

"I used to go back to Iran very often before the book, now I decided to wait and see how the situation evolves. Last time I went to Iran it was in 2011. I just party! I visit all of my friends, my family; I go from one house to another. Sometimes I do some sight seeing but, you know, there are so many people I want to meet. I always tell everyone: please, if you go to Iran, make sure you go to those underground events. Because, you see, it’s an exciting, unusual experience."