Busboys and Poets Books Presents THEY SAID THEY WANTED REVOLUTION
Date and Time
Apr 19, 2022 6:00 pm
Location
450K
450 K St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20001
Apr 19, 2022 6:00 pm
450K
THEY SAID THEY WANTED REVOLUTION: A Memoir of My Parents is Neda Toloui-Semani’s journey to uncover the hidden truths in her parents’ life before their marriage, their impact as revolutionaries, and their Iranian heritage. After losing her father to a political execution when she was only three years old, Neda Toloui-Semani was just thirty when she lost the other half of her Iranian revolutionary bloodline. This memoir traces back to the 1950’s and captures the struggles her parents faced, moving through time by tracing the events of the Iranian Revolution leading up to her escape with her pregnant mother as her father faced the trial that would solidify his unjust execution. With her experience as a reporter, Neda conducted extensive interviews with friends and family to provide the backbone for THEY SAID THEY WANTED REVOLUTION. At the forefront of her reporting are Neda’s parents who met as spirited student activists at University of California, Berkeley in the tumultuous late 1960’s. As tensions grew in both America and their homeland, they made the decision to move back to Iran in the late ‘70’s. In the aftermath of the Amol uprising of 1982, Neda’s father had to face the consequences of his decision in choosing the Revolution, and in the decades to follow, Neda had to deal with the grief of losing him and trying to answer the question of why her father made the choices that he made. In this astounding work, Neda brings history to life and connects it to some of the present-day revolutions, as seen in the storming of the Capitol Building, an event that occurred during her pregnancy with her own son, in a manner that makes this gripping narrative impossible to ignore.
This event is free and open to all, accessible through our Facebook and Youtube pages (@busboysandpoets).
The program will begin at 6 PM with an introduction from a member of our team. There will be time for Q&A with the audience before the end of the program, and you can purchase a SIGNED COPY of THEY SAID THEY WANTED REVOLUTION. Dinner service will be available throughout the event.
We recommend that viewers RSVP in order to receive updates as well as direct links to the event from Busboy and Poets Books.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neda Toloui-Semnani is an Emmy award–winning writer and producer. She is currently a senior writer at the television news magazine VICE News Tonight, and her work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Washington Post. They Said They Wanted Revolution: A Memoir of My Parents is her first book. For more information visit www.nedasemnani.com
Accompanying Neda to discuss her work is Elahe Izadi, a staff writer covering media for The Washington Post. She joined The Post in 2014 as a general assignment reporter and the Style section in 2016 as a pop culture writer. She has previously covered Congress, demographics and local news, and worked for National Journal, WAMU 88.5, TBD.com and the Gazette community newspapers.
