Stephen Edwin King is an American author. Widely known for his horror novels, he has been crowned the "King of Horror". He has also explored other genres, among them suspense, crime, science-fiction, fantasy and mystery. Though known primarily for his novels, he has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in collections.
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.
Darius Campbell Danesh was a Scottish singer-songwriter, actor and film producer. He first came to prominence as Darius Danesh when he appeared in the first series of Popstars in 2001, and the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest Pop Idol.
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.
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. It stars Roshan Seth and Soni Razdan. 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.
Gary David Schmidt is an American author of children's and young adults' fiction books. He currently resides in Alto, Michigan, where he is a professor of English at Calvin University.
Ostad Homayoun Khorram, was an Iranian musician, composer, violinist, and a member of the high council of Iran's house of music.
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, an editor with The Wall Street Journal opinion pages in New York and London, and as a senior writer at Commentary.
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.
Darius Kinnard Garland is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Born in Gary, Indiana, Garland is the son of former professional basketball player Winston Garland. Garland attended Brentwood Academy in high school, joining the varsity basketball team in eighth grade and leaving as a four-time state champion and three-time Tennessee Mr. Basketball winner. He was a five-star recruit, ranked among the best point guards in the 2018 class, and a McDonald's All-American.
Long Way Down is a young adult novel in verse by Jason Reynolds, published October 24, 2017, by Atheneum Books. The book was longlisted for the National Book Award and was named a Printz Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Book, and Newbery Medal Honor Book, alongside other awards and positive reviews.
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.
Dear Martin, published in 2018 by Crown Publishing Group, is an adult novel by Nic Stone. It is Stone's debut novel, written as a reaction to the murder of Jordan Davis. The book appeared as #4 on The New York Times Best Seller list.
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.
