Shahrnush Parsipur was born in Iran in 1946. She began her career as a writer of fiction and producer at Iranian National Television and Radio. She was imprisoned for nearly five years by the Islamist government without being formally charged. Shortly after her release, she published Women Without Men and was arrested and jailed again, this time for her frank and defiant portrayal of women's sexuality.
While still banned in Iran, the novel became an underground best-seller there, and has been translated into many languages around the world. She is also the author of Touba and the Meaning of Night, among many other books, and now lives in exile in Northern California.

Faridoun Farrokh was born and educated in Iran, where he began a teaching career. He is a professor of English at Texas A&M International University. His research focuses on eighteenth-century English literature and contemporary Iranian fiction, as well as literary translation.