Marjane Satrapi

At this point, Marjane Satrapi is beyond being presented. Her critically acclaimed autobiographical graphic novels Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood and Persepolis 2: The Story Of A Return which describe her childhood in revolutionary Iran and her adolescence in Europe are funny, wise and heart wrenching. They where adapted into an animated film of the same name, which debuted at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival in May 2007 and shared a Special Jury Prize. Anyone who has read Satrapi’s Persepolis will forever keep the last image of Marjane’s, the novel’s main character, hand pressed against an airport glass as her father carried away her weakened mother in their heart. Marjane Satrapi was born “in 1969 in Rasht, Iran. She grew up in Tehran, where she studied at the Lycee Francais before being sent to Vienna and then going to Strasbourg to study illustration.” In her many interviews and articles Marjane oozes with love for Iran. She says: “I always say that if I were a man I might say that Iran is my mother and France is my wife. My mother, whether she’s crazy or not, I would die for her, no matter what she is my mother. She is me and I am her.” Beyond Persepolis, Satrapi has carried on with her work producing a number of celebrated graphic novels. Below you will find a selection of her best works.

	Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood Marjane Satrapi’s first graphic novel immediately gained critical acclaim and was at some point compared to Art Spiegelman's Maus. This autobiography tells the enduring story of a young girl’s life during the revolution in Iran. Satrapi recounts her life from the age of 10, when the 1979 revolution reintroduced a religious state, to the age of 14 when her parents had to send her abroad in order to keep her safe as the Iraq-Iran war erupted. The strong and expressive black and white illustrations assert the moral ruin of religious political regimes and how it distorts individual lives. Her half history book, half comic book and its stories will forever be engraved in the hearts of those who have read it.
	Persepolis 2: The Story Of A Return In the first Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi overwhelmed us with her recollections of growing up in Iran during the revolution. The second book begins where the first one left off. In 1984, Marjane, 14, is sent to Vienna by her parents who are looking to protect her from the ravages of the Iraq-Iran war. The Story Of A Return tells of her struggles with adolescence and identity. Having missed her home, Marjane returns to Iran after graduating, only to be forced to come to the realisation that both she and her home land have changed. She finds consolation in her like minded friends, falls in love and begins studying art at a university all the while wondering what her future in state controlled Iran might look like. This sequel describes less traumatic events then the first Persepolis and in its subtlety manages to be even more moving.
	Embroideries Embroideries (Broderies) was, similarly to Persepolis, nominated for the Angoulême Album of the Year award in 2003. The women in Satrapi’s life, her tough and liberal grandmother, her calm mother, her attractive and unconventional aunt and their friends and neighbours are gathered for an afternoon of tea drinking and talking. The subject soon turns to sex, men and love. As the night comes nearer the women share their stories, secrets and regrets. These women’s stories and their lovers are sure to bring on a smile of recognition.
	Chicken With Plums Winner of the Angoulême Album of the Year award, Chicken with plums is the story of Satrapi’s great uncle Nasser Ali Khan, a revered Iranian musician who confines himself to his bed and refuses sustenance after he realises he will not find an instrument to replace his broken tar, an Iranian lute. It takes him eight days to die. We are taken through each of those days as Nasser recalls his life, is visited by family and haunted with hallucinations.