Shahrnush Parsipur lands International Booker longlist

Shahrnush Parsipur’s Women Without Men reached the 2026 International Booker Prize longlist in an English translation by Faridoun Farrokh, according to the Booker Prize Foundation. The English-language edition appeared in March 2026, giving many readers their first full access in English to one of the best-known works by the Iranian novelist and feminist writer. The recognition came in a prize cycle that considered books translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland between May 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026. Parsipur died on July 3, 2026, aged 80, the Booker Prizes website said. ### Which book made the longlist, and who translated it? Women Without Men was longlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize in Faridoun Farrokh’s English translation, the Booker Prize Foundation said. The foundation’s book page describes the work as following five women against a backdrop of revolution and coups as they move toward a garden and attempt to shed their old lives. (thebookerprizes.com) Faridoun Farrokh is listed by the Booker Prizes as the translator of the longlisted edition. The foundation’s author and translator pages say his English translation of Women Without Men was longlisted in 2026. ### Why was this English edition treated as a breakthrough? March 6, 2026, marked the publication date of a Conversation essay that described the book’s arrival as the first full English translation of Women Without Men. (thebookerprizes.com) That article said the novella had circulated for decades under pressure from censorship and exile, and framed the new edition as a broader opening for English-language readers. (thebookerprizes.com) July 8, 2026, brought a second Conversation article after Parsipur’s death that again described her as a major voice in modern Persian literature and said the first full English translation of one of her works had appeared in March 2026 before making the International Booker longlist. ### What did the Booker judges say about the book? (theconversation.com) The Booker Prize Foundation quoted the 2026 judges as saying some works “move through time, gaining depth with every decade,” and placed Women Without Men among books that speak across periods and borders. The foundation said the longlisted books were selected from 128 translated titles. The Booker Prizes website also published an interview with Parsipur and Farrokh on March 16, 2026, presenting the pair as the nominated author and translator for the prize cycle. (theconversation.com) That interview tied the book to Parsipur’s memories and surroundings and placed it within a wider conversation about Iranian women writers and Persian-language literature. (thebookerprizes.com) ### Where does this sit in Parsipur’s wider career? Shahrnush Parsipur was born in Iran in 1946, according to her author page on the Booker site. The same page says she died on July 3, 2026, and identifies Women Without Men as the work that brought her onto the 2026 International Booker longlist. The Conversation said Parsipur spent more than five decades writing fiction shaped by censorship, imprisonment and exile. (thebookerprizes.com) Its March and July articles both presented Women Without Men as one of the defining texts in that career. ### What happened next in the prize cycle? March 31, 2026, was the date set for the International Booker shortlist announcement, the Booker Prize Foundation said in its longlist release. (thebookerprizes.com) The foundation’s 2026 prize page now shows Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated by Lin King, as the eventual winner. The Booker Prizes website continues to host the longlist pages for Parsipur, Farrokh and Women Without Men, along with an extract from the book and the March 16 interview with the author and translator. (theconversation.com) (thebookerprizes.com 1) (thebookerprizes.com 2)