Marjane Satrapi Books In Order

Publication Order of Persepolis Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Children's Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Marjane Satrapi
Marjane Satrapi is a French-Iranian graphic novelist, illustrator, cartoonist, film director, and children’s book author. She was born November 22, 1969 in Rasht.

She grew up in Tehran in an upper-middle class Iranian family and she went to Lycee Razi, the French language school. Both of her parents were politically active and they supported leftist causes against the monarchy of the last Shah. As the Iranian Revolution happened in 1979, they underwent rule by the Islamic fundamentalists that took power.

During her youth, she was exposed to the growing brutalities of the various regimes. A lot of her family friends got arrested, persecuted, and were even murdered. She found a hero in Anoosh, her paternal uncle, who had been a political prisoner and lived in exile for a time in the Soviet Union.

A young Marjane greatly admired her uncle, and he in turn doted on her, treating her more like a daughter than a niece. Once he was back in Iran, he was arrested again and then sentenced to death. He was just allowed a single visitor the night before he was executed, and he requested for Satrapi to be there.

Even though her parents encouraged her to be strong-willed and to defend her rights, they grew concerned about her safety. Barely into her teens at this time, she was skirting trouble with the police for disregarding modesty codes and buying music that was banned by the regime.

They arranged for her to live with Zozo (a family friend), to study abroad, and at the age of 14, she arrived in Vienna, Austria, in order to attend the Lycee Francais de Vienne. She remained in Vienna during her high school years, often moving from one residence to another while situations changed, and she sometimes stayed at friends’ homes. Eventually, she became homeless and lived on the streets for three months, until getting hospitalized with an almost deadly bout of bronchitis. Upon her recovery, she returned to Iran. She studied communication, eventually obtaining her master’s degree from Islamic Azad University in Tehran.

She then married Reza, who was a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War, when she was just 21 years old, whom she later divorced. She then moved to Strasbourg, France so that she could study at the Haute ecole des arts du Rhin (HEAR). Her parents told her that Iran wasn’t the place for her anymore, and encouraged her to remain in Europe on a permanent basis.

She is married to Swedish national, Mattias Ripa. She speaks English, French, Italian, German, and Swedish, as well as Persian, her native language.

“Chicken with Plums” won the Angouleme Album of the Year Award in 2005. “Persepolis” won the Angouleme Coup de Couer Award and “Persepolis 2” won the Angouleme Prize for Scenario.

“Persepolis” was adapted into an animated movie of the same name that debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May of 2007. It was co-directed and co-written by Marjane and director Vincent Paronnaud.

“Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood” is the first novel in the “Persepolis” series and was released in 2003. Satrapi, in powerful black and white comic strip images, tells the story of her life in Tehran from the time she was six until she was fourteen, which were years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of a war with Iraq. The outspoken and intelligent only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s final emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely intertwined with her country’s history.

This paints this unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and the bewildering contradictions between public life and home life. Her child’s-eye view of state-sanctioned whippings, dethroned emperors, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn while she does the history of such a fascinating country and about her own extraordinary family.

Intensely personal, wholly original, and profoundly political, “Persepolis” is at once a story about growing up, and a reminder of the human cost of political repression and war. It illustrates how, with tears and laughter, we carry on, in the face of absurdity. And it finally introduces us to one irresistible little girl with whom we can’t help but fall in love.

“Embroideries” is a stand alone graphic novel and was released in 2003. A gloriously enlightening and entertaining glimpse into the sex lives of Iranian women.

Embroideries gathers together Marjane’s stoic mom, tough-talking grandma, eccentric and glamorous aunt and their neighbors and friends for one afternoon of talking and tea drinking. Naturally their conversation turns to sex, love, and the vagaries of men.

While the afternoon progresses, these vibrant women each share their regrets, their secrets and their often outrageous tales about (among other things) how to fake one’s virginity, how to escape out of an arranged marriage, how to delight in being a mistress, and how to enjoy the miracles of plastic surgery. By turns hilarious and revealing, these are tales about the lengths to which some women will go in order to find a man, keep a man, or (most important of all) to keep up appearances.

Filled with surprises, this introduction into the private lives of some fascinating women, whose lovers and life stories will strike us as being once deeply familiar and profoundly different from our own, is certain to bring smiles of recognition to the faces of women everywhere, and to teach us all a thing or two.

“Chicken With Plums” is a stand alone graphic novel and was released in 2004. Nasser Ali Khan (one of Iran’s most celebrated tar players) is in search of a new instrument, in November of 1955. His beloved tar has just been broken. However no matter what tar he tries out, none of them sound quite right to him.

He decides, while being broken hearted, that life is not worth living anymore. He takes to his bed, renouncing the world and all of its pleasures. Here is the story of the eight days that he spends preparing to surrender his very soul.