Iranian activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi shares her story in memoir
2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has published a memoir written in prison, detailing her fight for human rights in Iran despite facing decades of imprisonment and persecution.
As PEN International marks Imprisoned Writer Day on November 15, Mohammadi's memoir stands as a powerful act of resistance. The autobiography, "A Woman Never Stops Fighting — My Struggle for Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights in Iran," was recently published in German and is set to be released in English in September 2027.
Mohammadi wrote the memoir while imprisoned in Iran's notorious Evin prison. "She was constantly writing," says Claren, whose own mother, activist Nahid Taghavi, shared a cell with Mohammadi for two and a half years. "Then, in 2020, Narges was forcibly moved to another prison. All her documents were gone. And she had to start all over."
Prison writings smuggled out
Despite losing her work when transferred to a different prison, Mohammadi rewrote the entire memoir. Her texts were smuggled out of prison in fragments by fellow prisoners and visitors who risked their own safety.
The human rights activist has been sentenced to a combined total of more than 44 years in prison and 154 lashes. For more than a decade, she has been separated from her twin children, who are now 19 years old and live in exile in France for their own protection.
From student activism to Nobel Prize
Born on April 21, 1972, in Zanjan, Iran, Mohammadi became politically active while studying physics in the 1990s. She organized mixed-gender mountaineering groups and helped establish an independent student organization, leading to repeated harassment and arrests.
She began her journalism career in 1996, writing about Iran's student and women's movements. In 1998, she married political activist Taghi Rahmani. The couple's twins, Ali and Kiana, were born in 2006.
When someone is subjected to psychological torture, no visible traces remain, and the victim cannot justify the trauma — neither to themselves nor to others. In fact, it becomes virtually impossible to even accept that one has been tortured at all, which causes the suffering to continue indefinitely.
Continued persecution despite recognition
Mohammadi's international recognition culminated in October 2023 when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The award was accepted on her behalf by her teenage twins, who delivered her message to the world.
Following the Nobel Prize, Iranian authorities intensified pressure on her, pursuing new legal cases, restricting her communications, and launching a systematic smear campaign. "We are firmly convinced that the Islamic Republic of Iran has deployed its cyber army — which is the second-largest, after Russia's — to this end," says Claren.
Despite being granted temporary medical release following surgery in late 2024, Mohammadi was brutally arrested again in December 2025 while attending a memorial ceremony. In February, an Iranian court ordered additional prison sentences for her, along with a travel ban.
Related
