Hossein Mortezaeian Abkenar, born in 1966, studied dramatic arts at Tehran University, then taught creative writing at Art University and other independent institutions.
He published his first work of fiction, a collection of short stories titled The Concert of Forbidden Tars, in 1999, followed by The French Perfume, which won the 2003 Yalda Award for the best collection of short stories. His first novel, Scorpion on the Steps of Andimeshk Train Station, or Blood’s Dripping From This Train, was published in 2006 to great acclaim. The novel received the Golshiri Award and the Mehregan Award for the best novel of the year, as well as the Vaav Award for the year’s most unique novel. Abkenar has also written several screenplays, among them for the film No One Knows about Persian Cats, directed by Bahman Ghobadi and awarded the Special Jury Prize Ex-aequo in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. He received a scholarship from Harvard University in 2013–14 and moved to the US. Between 2014 and 2017 he was a fellow at the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute at UNLV. Abkenar’s books are banned from sale and publication in Iran.
