CFUW Aurora/Newmarket: Guest Speaker Marina Nemat

Description

Marina Nemat—Bearing Witness to the Human Experience of History

 Marina's Journey: From Iran to Literary Acclaim

Marina is originally from Iran. In 1979, at just 16 years old, she was arrested for expressing her opinions and writing articles for her school newspaper. She spent two harrowing years in the infamous Evin Prison, where she endured torture, narrowly escaped execution, and lost many friends to state-sponsored violence.

In 1991, Marina emigrated to Canada with her husband, Andre, and their infant son. Since then, she has penned two memoirs: *Prisoner of Tehran* and *After Tehran*, both of which have been translated into multiple languages. Her debut memoir, *Prisoner of Tehran*, was a finalist for the 2005 CBC Literary Awards and earned her a spot as a finalist in the 2012 Canada Reads competition.

Today, Marina shares her passion for storytelling as a Memoir Writing instructor at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. Her new book, a historical novel, Mistress of the Persian Board House inspired by her grandmother’s escape from the 1917 Russian Revolution to build a new life in Iran, will be published in the summer of 2026 by Penguin Random House Canada.