TEHRAN – The English version of the Persian novel “Moon Brow” by Iranian writer Shahriar Mandanipur is among the semi-finalists of the 2019 PEN America Literary Awards.

The book has been rendered into English by the U.S.-based Iranian translator Sara Khalili and published by the Brooklyn independent publisher Restless Books.

The book, which has yet to be published in Iran, is about Amir who lost his hand and memory during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. He just remembers a mysterious woman called Moon Brow.

The PEN America Literary Awards will be presented to writers and translators whose literary works were published in 2018 in various categories, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, biography, essays, science writing, sports writing, translation and more.

“Moon Brow” is competing with nine other books for the PEN Translation Prize worth $3,000.

The finalists for all categories will be announced in January 2019 and the award ceremony will be held in New York City on February 26, 2019.

Photo: Front cover of the English translation of Iranian writer Shahriar Mandanipur novel “Moon Brow” by Sara Khalili.

ABU/MMS/YAW