This is a list of women writers who were born in Iran or whose writings are closely associated with that country.
A
Masoumeh Abad (born 1962), activist, politician, and non-fiction author
Janet Afary (born 1960), feminist, historian, non-fiction writer
Mahnaz Afkhami (born 1941), feminist, non-fiction writer, now in the United States Pegah Ahmadi (born 1974), poet, critic, translator Mahshid Amirshahi (born 1937), novelist, short story writer, critic, journalist, translator Jaleh Amouzgar (born 1939), linguist, anthropologist, academic Akram Monfared Arya (born 1946), pilot, poet, short story writer, artist, now living in Sweden, writes in Persian, Swedish and English Lady Amin (1886–1983), mystic, author of works on Islamic sciences Mahshid Amirshahi (born 1937), novelist, short story writer, critic, journalist, translator Noushafarin Ansari (born 1939), librarian, educator, journalist Mastoureh Ardalan (1805–1848), Kurdish poet, philosopher, historian Mina Assadi (born 1943), poet, journalist, living in Sweden Bibi Khanoom Astarabadi (c.1858–1921), feminist, literary historian Ghazaleh Alizadeh (born 1947), writer, poet
B
Rakhshan Bani-E'temad (born 1954), film director, screenwriter
Najmieh Batmanglij (born 1957), Iranian-American cookbook writer
Simin Behbahani (1927–2014), acclaimed poet
Niloofar Beyzaie (born 1967), playwright, theatre director, living in German
Taraneh Boroumand playwright, writer, poet, translator
D
Simin Daneshvar (1921–2012), acclaimed early female novelist, short story writer, translator, educator Soraya Darabi (born 1955), journalist, trade union activist Sahar Delijani (born 1983), widely translated novelist, author of Children of the Jacaranda Tree, living between the United States and Italy Sediqeh Dowlatabadi (1882–1961), feminist, journalist Firoozeh Dumas (born 1965), Iranian-American memoirist, humorous writer, author of Funny in Farsi
E
Shirin Ebadi (born 1947), Nobel peace prize winner, human rights activist, non-fiction writer Amanda Enayati (born 1967), columnist, communication strategist Camelia Entekhabifard (born 1973), poet, journalist, memoirist, living in the United States Parvin E'tesami (1907–1941), acclaimed classical poet, essayist Mansoureh Ettehadieh (graduated 1956), historian, educator, non-fiction writer, novelist
F
Forough Farrokhzad (1935–1967), influential poet, film director, poetry translated into several languages including English Pooran Farrokhzad, since the 1990s: poet, playwright, encyclopedist Nazila Fathi (born 1970), author and Iranian correspondent for The New York Times
G
Zarah Ghahramani (born 1981), Iranian-born Australian memoirist, author of My Life as a Traitor Shusha Guppy (1935–2008), singer, memoirist, writer, critic, journal editor; she lived in London
H
Fattaneh Haj Seyed Javadi (born 1945), best selling novelist
Roya Hakakian (born 1966), Iranian-American poet, journalist, memoirist, essayist, television producer Maryam Heydarzadeh (born 1977), poet, lyricist Maryam Hooleh (born 1978), poet, novelist, filmmaker
J
Rosa Jamali (born 1977), poet, playwright, translator
K
Sheema Kalbasi (born 1972), widely translated poet, human rights activist, living in the United States Mehrangiz Kar (born 1944), women's rights activist, essayist, author of Crossing the Red Line Persis Karim (born 1962), literature scholar, author, and professor; director of the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State University; lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Leila Kasra (1939–1989), poet, lyricist Fatemeh Keshavarz (born 1952), poet, educator, literary historian, living in the United States Porochista Khakpour (born 1978), Iranian-American novelist, essayist
L
Shahla Lahiji (born 1942), feminist, translator, publisher
M
Mahsati (c.1089–c.1159), early Persian poet writing in quatrains
Marsha Mehran (1977–2014), widely translated novelist, author of Pomegranate Soup; she lived in Argentina, the United States, Australia and Ireland. Mozhgan Babamarandi is an eminent Iranian writer best known for children and young adult fiction, since 1996 Farzaneh Milani, Iranian-American educator, since early 1990s: non-fiction writer, poet Azadeh Moaveni (born 1976), Iranian-American journalist, memoirist, author of Lipstick Jihad, now living in London Roza Montazemi (c.1921–2009), popular cookbook writer Minoo Moshiri, essayist, translator and journalist Granaz Moussavi (born 1976), Iranian-Australian poet, screenwriter, film director