TEHRAN – Iranian director Sama Musavi plans to stage “In Language of Sleep”, a biography play on Iranian author Simin Daneshvar and German-Romanian novelist Herta Muller, at Tehran Independent Theater in late September. 

Written by Mona Ahmadi, the play tries to depict the life stories of the two prominent female authors.

A scholar, novelist and translator, Daneshvar (1921-2012) is considered as the first major Iranian woman novelist. Her popular novel “Savushun” (1969) is the first modern Persian-language novel written by a woman.

A bestselling Persian novel, “Savushun” is set in Shiraz during the British occupation in the last years of World War II and chronicles the life of a landowning family from the point of view of Zari, a woman who awakens to her own strength after her husband is killed for his refusal to cooperate with the regime.

Daneshvar was the wife of the famous Iranian writer Jalal Al-e Ahmad.

The 66-year-old Muller is the winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature for her works revealing the harshness of life in Romania under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu.

She moved to Germany with her husband, author Richard Wagner, in 1987, when she was forbidden to publish her books in Romania. 

Her credits include “The Passport”, “The Land of Green Plums”, “The Appointment” and “The Hunger Angel”. 

Maral Keshavarz and Musavi herself are the members of the cast for the “In Language of Sleep”.

Photo: This combination photo shows Iranian author Simin Daneshvar (L) and German-Romanian novelist Herta Muller.

ABU/MMS/YAW