A Woman Who Walkes with Statues
(Persian title: زنی که با مجسمهها راه میرفت / Zanī ke bā mojasme-hā rāh mi-raft) Author: شهزاده سمرقندی / Shahzade (or Shahzoda) Samarqandi
Key facts
- Year of first publication in Persian script: 1404 solar hijri / 2025 Gregorian (published in Iran by خردگان / Kheradgaan Publications).
- This is the first time the novel appeared in the original Persian (Farsi) script; earlier editions, if any, were in Cyrillic Tajik.
- Genre: Contemporary literary fiction with strong elements of fantasy/magical realism, meta-fiction, and feminist critique.
- Setting: A lightly fictionalized Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan (referred to only obliquely; most Tajik readers immediately recognize the city).
- Length: Approximately 150–170 pages (a relatively slim volume).
- In The Netherlands this book was published by Dena Books publishing house.
Core premise (no major spoilers)
The statues of famous poets, scholars, and historical figures that line the streets and parks of the city suddenly come to life one night and begin walking among the citizens. Rudaki, Ismail Samani, and other cultural icons leave their pedestals and start interacting with the living.
The narrator is a female writer named “Shahre-Ashub” (literally “City-in-Turmoil”), who is accused by the authorities and the official Writers’ Union of having caused this upheaval through the sheer power of her writing. The novel then becomes a reflection on:
- the act of writing under censorship and authoritarianism,
- the relationship between political power and literature,
- the stagnation of post-Soviet Tajik society,
- women’s creativity and sisterhood versus patriarchal control,
- what happens when a story escapes its author’s control (a very strong meta-fictional layer).
The tone mixes sharp social satire, fantasy, and moments of lyrical beauty. Many reviewers compare its atmosphere to a Central Asian blend of Mikhail Bulgakov’s magical realism and Latin American feminist fabulism.
Why it matters
- It is one of the very first Tajik novels originally written by a woman that has been published in the Persian (Farsi) script inside Iran, making it accessible to the much larger Iranian and Afghan Persian-reading public.
- It is openly critical of the Tajik regime’s cultural policies, the Writers’ Union, and the lingering effects of Soviet-era censorship, which makes its publication in Iran (rather than Tajikistan itself) politically significant.
- The author dedicated the book to the Tajik writer Bahmaniyar and to all writers jailed unjustly, so the novel is also read as an act of literary solidarity.
About the author
Shahzoda Samarqandi was born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, writes in both Cyrillic Tajik and Persian script, and lives in exile in the Netherlands since 2006. She is known for her short stories and for being one of the few contemporary Tajik women writers who openly identifies as feminist.
Reception so far (2025)
- Warmly welcomed by Iranian critics and readers of serious literary fiction.
- Praised for its courage, stylistic daring, and the way it bridges the three major varieties of Persian (Iranian, Afghan, Tajik).
- Some Iranian readers note that the Tajik-influenced Persian takes a little getting used to (archaic vocabulary, occasional Russified syntax), but most say the effort is richly rewarded.
In short, it is currently one of the most talked-about new Persian-language novels of 2025 and is seen as an important event in bringing contemporary Tajik literature into the wider Persian literary sphere.