Akhtar Naraghi ( fa, اختر نراقی) is a Canadian poet, writer and scholar. She founded the International Organization of the Helen Prize for Women.

Biography

She holds a doctorate in English literature from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

and works in English. Her novels are all written in the first person, and revolve around the narrator's efforts to make a home in new surroundings, in different cultures. She has published four novels, in the first three of which – ''The Big Green House'' (1994; short-listed for the QSPELL Hugh McLennan Prize for Fiction in 1995), ''Blue Curtains'' (1999) and ''With Mara That Summer'' (2004) – the narrator-protagonist recounts episodes from her life, beginning in early childhood and ending with her declining years. Her latest novel, ''On the Train to My Village'' (2011), is a story of love and the artist's existence partly inspired by the author's time spent in the Gaspé region of Quebec. Her work has been translated into French,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and German. Naraghi is also the author of three collections of verse, ''Legacy'' (1992), ''Solitude'' (1996) and ''Autumn Bird'' (2011), in addition to having contributed forewords, articles and short stories to numerous journals. In 1987, she founded the International Organization of the Helen Prize for Women, named for Dr.

Helen Caldicott Helen Mary Caldicott (born 7 August 1938) is an Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate. She founded several associations dedicated to opposing the use of nuclear power, depleted uranium munitions, nuclear weapons, nuclear we ...

, the creator of

Physicians for Social Responsibility Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is a physician-led organization in the US working to protect the public from the threats of nuclear proliferation, climate change, and environmental toxins. It produces and disseminates publications, pr ...

. The Helen Prize annually honors the achievements of women of the world, whatever their backgrounds or fields of endeavor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naraghi, Akhtar Living people 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian women poets Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian Muslims Canadian women novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers