# Literature, liberation and Lolita in Iran

An episode of [Bookends with Mattea Roach](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/250082529), 17 May 2026, 36 min.

Audio: https://mgln.ai/e/12/cbc.mc.tritondigital.com/CBC_WRITERSANDCO_P/media/writersandco/writersandco-N8ftR1dV-20260514.mp3?ttag=season:2,episode:37

Books can be revolutionary. That’s the message of Azar Nafisi’s celebrated memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran, which is about her experience teaching forbidden literature to young women in Iran. Although it was published nearly 23 years ago, Azar’s memoir continues to speak to issues around censorship, authoritarianism and resilience in Iran and across the world. Her 2022 book Read Dangerously follows that thread, exploring how books are a tool for resistance and change in a time when people have forgotten how to speak to one another. Azar joined Mattea Roach for a special on-stage event at the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival in Montreal, where they discussed Azar’s incredible family history, the uniting power of literature and what freedom means to her. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: • Rage and love at the end of apartheid • This poem took 16 straight hours to write Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

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