Stephen Edwin King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Called the "King of Horror", his books have sold more than 350 million copies as of 2006, and many have been adapted into films, television series, miniseries, and comic books. He has also written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in book collections. His debut, Carrie, was published in 1974, and was followed by 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Stand and The Dead Zone. Different Seasons, a collection of four novellas, was his first major departure from the horror genre. The novellas provided the basis for the films Stand by Me and The Shawshank Redemption. King has published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman and has cowritten works with other authors, notably his friend Peter Straub and sons Joe Hill and Owen King.
Xerxes I, commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was the son of Darius the Great and Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus the Great. In Western history, Xerxes is best known for his invasion of Greece in 480 BC, which ended in Persian defeat. Xerxes was designated successor by Darius over his elder brother Artobazan and inherited a large, multi-ethnic empire upon his father's death. He consolidated his power by crushing revolts in Egypt and Babylon, and renewed his father's campaign to subjugate Greece and punish Athens and its allies for their interference in the Ionian Revolt. In 480 BC, Xerxes personally led a large army and crossed the Hellespont into Europe. He achieved victories at Thermopylae and Artemisium before capturing and razing Athens. His forces gained control of mainland Greece north of the Isthmus of Corinth until their defeat at the Battle of Salamis. Fearing that the Greeks might trap him in Europe, Xerxes retreated with the greater part of his army back to Asia, leaving behind Mardonius to continue his campaign. Mardonius was defeated at Plataea the following year, effectively ending the Persian invasion.
Sohrab Sepehri was a notable Iranian poet and painter. He is considered to be one of the five most famous Iranian poets who have practiced modern poetry alongside Nima Youshij, Ahmad Shamlou, Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, and Forough Farrokhzad. Sepehri's poems have been translated into several languages, including English, French, Spanish, Italian, Lithuanian and Kurdish.
Darius Rucker is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carolina along with Mark Bryan, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, and Dean Felber. The band released five studio albums with Rucker as a member and charted six top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Rucker co-wrote most of the songs with the other members of the band.
A Persian name or Iranian name consists of a given name, sometimes more than one, and a surname.
The Kite Runner is the first novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. Published in 2003 by Riverhead Books, it tells the story of Amir, a young boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of Afghanistan's monarchy through the Soviet invasion, the exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the rise of the Taliban regime.
Such a Long Journey is a 1998 Indo-Canadian English language film based on the novel of the same name written by Rohinton Mistry. The film is directed by Sturla Gunnarsson with a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala. The film received twelve Genie Awards nominations including the Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. The film was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Bahrām Beyzāêi is an Iranian playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, film editor, and ostād ("master") of Persian letters, arts and Iranian studies.
Adib Taherzadeh was a Baháʼí author who also served as a member of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Baháʼís, between 1988 and 2000.
Abd al Ḥosayn Ayati (1871—1953), known to Baháʼís as Avarih, was an Iranian convert to the Baháʼí Faith, who later converted back to Islam and wrote several polemic works against his former religion. He is regarded in Baháʼí circles as an apostate. In his later years he served as a secondary school teacher while writing poetry and history, and was regarded as a competent orator.
Sohrab Ahmari is an Iranian-American columnist, editor, and author of nonfiction books. He is a founding editor of the online magazine Compact. He is a contributing editor of The Catholic Herald, and a columnist for First Things. Previously, he served as the op-ed editor of the New York Post, a columnist and editor with The Wall Street Journal opinion pages in New York and London, and as a senior writer at Commentary.
Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu , known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. He is credited alongside Davido and Wizkid for popularizing Afrobeats globally.
Sarah Janet Maas is an American fantasy author known for her fantasy series Throne of Glass,A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City. As of 2022, she has sold over twelve million copies of her books and her work has been translated into 37 languages.
The Hate U Give is a 2017 young adult novel by Angie Thomas. It is Thomas's debut novel, expanded from a short story she wrote in college in reaction to the police shooting of Oscar Grant. The book is narrated by Starr Carter, a 16-year-old African-American girl from a poor neighborhood who attends an elite private school in a predominantly white, affluent part of the city. Starr becomes entangled in a national news story after she witnesses a white police officer shoot and kill her childhood friend, Khalil. She speaks up about the shooting in increasingly public ways, and social tensions culminate in a riot after a grand jury decides not to indict the police officer for the shooting.
Bardia Sadrenoori, also spelled Bardia Sadr-e-noori, is an Iranian pianist, chamber musician, music improvisator and author. His style is classical Persian piano as musical improvisator. he has a lot of experience performing and collaborating with other musicians and artists. In France, he performed for the first time with a non-equal-tempered piano in January 2022 in Rennes. In Iran, he is the founder and director of Radnoandish cultural and artistic institute, as well as organizer of festivals of art and concerts.
Jessica Love is an American theater actress, author, and illustrator. She is best known for her debut children's picture book Julián is a Mermaid, which has won the Stonewall Book Award and Klaus Flugge Prize. All of her books are LGBTQ+ friendly.
We Are Okay is a young adult novel by Nina LaCour, published February 14, 2017 by Dutton Books for Young Readers.
Nina LaCour is an American author, primarily known for writing young adult literature with queer, romantic story lines. Her novel We Are Okay won the Printz Award in 2017.
Babou was a pet ocelot and frequent companion of the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí in the 1960s. A cat lover, Dalí claimed to have been given the animal by the head of state of Colombia. Babou's date of death is unknown.
Adib Khorram is an Iranian-American author who mainly writes young adult fiction. He is most well known for his books Darius the Great is Not Okay, Darius the Great Deserves Better, and Kiss & Tell.
