Book Launch: 'Shirin' a novel

Sydney based Hazara author Taqi Bakhtyari in attendance.

Palaver Press representatives Sally Gardener and Paul Komesaroff will attend by Zoom.

SHIRIN (Palaver 2026) tells the story of a young Hazara woman who risks everything to challenge both the Taliban and her community’s mores, with author Taqi Bakhtyari drawing on his own experience of exile and discrimination.

It follows the courage of Aghai, a Muslim Hazara girl who dares to love beyond rigid boundaries and questions the unyielding decrees that govern her world. Her spirit, kindled by the ancient verses of Omar Khayyam, dances on the edge of rebellion, seeking freedom in a world scarred by violence, domestic tyranny and the erasure of memory.

The novel brings to the forefront a powerful image: a woman’s name missing from
her gravestone, and the bold act of restoring it - a reclaiming of identity that
reverberates through generations. Aghai’s journey intersects with Kylie, an Australian First Nations woman, opening a quiet parallel between Hazara and First Nations’ experiences: memory, erasure, and inherited trauma. Through this connection, author Taqi Bakhtyari explores the broader conditions that allow such erasure and the resilience required to resist it.

A Hazara-Australian writer, Taqi Bakhtyari was forced into exile from Afghanistan
after facing threats to his life for his work. Now based in Sydney, he brings a voice
shaped by lived histories of persecution and survival, weaving them into a lyrical
narrative that is both deeply personal and politically resonant.

SHIRIN is Bakhtyari’s third novel and his first in English. a work he describes not as
fiction, but as “a collection of truths.” Grounded entirely in real events, the story draws on acts of persecution against Hazara civilians to explore the tensions of minority life in multicultural societies, both in Afghanistan and Australia.

Taqi Bakhtyari is a Hazara-Australian novelist and former journalist whose writing
bridges Afghanistan history and diaspora experience. His fiction, originally in Persian
and now in English, examines identity, oppression, and freedom through allegorical
and humanist lenses. Based in Sydney since 2014, he is regarded as a distinctive
literary voice emerging from the Hazara community 

For publishers Sally Gardner and Paul Komesaroff, the novel offers a rare
perspective, challenging readers to confront difficult questions about belonging,
belief, and the value of human life.
“We’re proud to offer this important book and new voice to Australian readers,” they
said.

Palaver is an independent, not for profit publisher dedicated to supporting fearless
and creative modes of intellectual enquiry and writing and the values of rigour,
quality, and critical analysis in the free exchange of ideas.