The Ministry of Guidance

Written by Golnoosh Nour

Narrated by Serena Manteghi

Set mostly in Iran, but making forays to London, Germany, and the transit area of a Ukrainian airport, the stories are brilliantly deft in summoning up the dilemmas of their protagonists, be they characters who are kicking against the confines of the society into which they are born, or characters wanting to embrace those confines.

Nour is a brave and acute observer of how the human spirit fights free of social repression in all its guises. These are stories that argue for nuance in a world that wants to make things black and white.

Golnoosh Nour was born in Tehran and studied English Literature at Shahid Beheshti University, after which she moved to London to do an MA in Creative Writing. Her debut poetry collection Sorrows of the Sun was published to acclaim in 2017. Golnoosh has just completed a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing. She now teaches at Birkbeck and works as a translator

''Golnoosh Nour’s unflinching writing explores sex and religion, love and cruelty, and rebellion and identity, with energy, precision and poise’'- Nell Stevens.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SAGA Egmont
• Release date: Nov 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9788728024614

Golnoosh Nour

Golnoosh Nour is a published poet, prose writer, and lecturer. Born in Tehran in 1988, she studied for a BA in English Literature at Shahid Beheshti University after which she moved to London to do an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck. In 2017, her debut poetry collection Sorrows of the Sun was published under her then pseudonym, Sogol Sur. Her short story collection The Ministry of Guidance and Other Stories was published on the 2nd of April 2020 by Muswell Press. Her writing has been anthologised in internationally recognised publications such as Granta. She has performed in numerous literary events across the UK and internationally, including The Shuffle at the Poetry Café, Stoke Newington Literature Festival, The Fringe! Festival, SOAS, RVT, Birkbeck Poetry Live for Arts Week, In Yer Ear, Literary Kitchen Festival, Tate South Lambeth Library, and the UCL Art Society. She has appeared in the BBC Cultural Frontline and Woman's Hour to discuss her work. Since May 2020, Golnoosh has been hosting and designing a radio programme called Queer Lit for Soho Radio Culture/ Alphabet Radio. Golnoosh is the co-editor of Magma 80 and one of the judges of the Queer Writing Competition of Muswell Press. In 2019, she gained her practice-based Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing at Birkbeck College, University of London. Golnoosh teaches Creative Writing at Reading University. Her full collection, ROCKSONG, was published by VERVE Poetry Press in 2021 and was shortlisted for the Polaris Prize.