Shokoofeh Azar, born in Iran in 1972, is a writer and journalist. Arrested for her work, she fled to Australia in 2010 as a political refugee. Her acclaimed novel The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree was shortlisted for the Stella Prize, PEN and National Awards, and the International Booker Prize, making her the first Iranian nominee. Her new novel is The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen.