A01=Navid Sinaki
Author_Navid Sinaki
Category=FBA
dark romance
eq_bestseller
eq_fiction
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_modern-contemporary
eq_nobargain
forthcoming
iranian novel
james cahill
jean genet
kaveh akbar
lgbtq fiction
ministry of guidance
ocean vuong
queer middle eastern literature
queer noir fiction
swimming in the dark
Product details
- ISBN 9781800816381
- Dimensions: 129 x 198mm
- Publication Date: 09 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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Anjir and Zal have been together ever since they first knew what love was. But living in Iran, the two men must keep their relationship hidden, potentially on pain of death.
When Zal gets attacked after being caught with another man in public, Anjir is heartbroken by the betrayal but chooses to forgive as the pair formulate a plan for the future. The Iranian government will partially pay for a trans person's gender-confirming surgeries and Anjir, who's always identified with the mythical gender-changing Tiresias, will become a woman. Together they can move away from Tehran for a fresh start as husband and wife.
Then Zal vanishes, leaving only a cryptic note behind. Anjir embarks on a quest through the queer underground of Tehran in search for the other man, hoping he will lead him to Zal. But someone is tailing Anjir too and the further into Zal's secrets he delves, the more he suspects that further violence may soon be necessary.
A queer noir-infused love story of violence, vengeance and desire, Medusa of the Roses is a provocative, propulsive novel with the wild intensity of a fever dream.
Navid Sinaki is an artist, filmmaker and poet. He was born in Tehran and currently lives in Los Angeles. His works have screened at museums and art houses around the world, including Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Lincoln Center, British Film Institute, REDCAT, and Cineteca Nacional in Mexico. His writing has most recently appeared in BOMB Magazine. He is a professor at UCLA Extension and a film programmer, most notably at the Echo Park Film Center www.navidsinaki.com
