JHU SAIS to Host Book Event With Azar Nafisi and Scott Simon

The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) will host a forum, "Things I've Been Silent About: A Book Discussion About Politics and the Challenges of Literature" on Monday, 01/26 at 7 p.m.

The event will feature a discussion with best-selling authors Azar Nafisi, executive director of SAIS Cultural Conversations, and Scott Simon, host of National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition Saturday."

This event also celebrates the release of Nafisi's new book, Things I've Been Silent About, published by Random House on 12/30. After writing her best-selling Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books in 2003, Nafisi returns to Iran and her childhood in this latest book, a moving narrative of her family's life.

Simon most recently published Windy City: A Novel of Politics. His other books include Pretty Birds: A Novel and the nonfiction best-seller Home and Away: Memoir of a Fan.

Following the program, Nafisi and Simon will be available to sign copies of their books.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Kenney Auditorium of the school's Nitze Building, located at 1740 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., in Washington, D.C. Members of the public should RSVP to [email protected] or 202.663.5635.

Members of the media who want to cover this event should contact Felisa Neuringer Klubes in the SAIS Communications Office at 202.663.5626 or [email protected].