Anahita Firouz, In the Walled Gardens, has lived in Pittsburgh since fleeing Iran during the Revolution in 1979. She is presently at work on her second novel.

Moniro Ravanipour is a novelist and short story writer whose work, considered nonconformist and honest in its portrayal of Iranians, has elicited increased Iranian government scrutiny; in 2006, all copies of her current work were stripped from bookstore shelves.  She is currently a resident writer at City of Asylum/Las Vegas.