Sholeh Rezazadeh

Sholeh Rezazadeh

Sholeh Rezazadeh (b. 1989) came to the Netherlands from Iran in 2015. Three years after her arrival, she signed a contract for her literary debut novel “De hemel is altijd paars” (The sky is always purple), which was awarded the Debutantenprijs of the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde and the Bronzen Uil Publieksprijs. It was also on the longlist of the Libris Literatuurpijs and Hebban Debuutprijs. More than 50,000 copies of this book were sold in the Netherlands and Belgium. Her second novel, “Ik ken een berg die op me wachten”, received a Special Mention from The European Union Prize for the Literature and was nominated for the Amarte Literature Prize and the Nature Book Prize.

Her second novel, “Ik ken een berg die op me wachten”, received a Special Mention from The European Union Prize for the Literature and was nominated for the Amarte Literature Prize and the Nature Book Prize.

Her poetry debut, “Neem ruim zei de zee”, reached several reprints in a short time.

She is also a sought-after elocutionist.

I know a mountain that is waiting for me (Ik ken een berg die op me wacht)

Translation to Macedonian: Eli Pujovska

"Antolog", Skopje, 2025

A wonderful novel about the power of nature and the yearning for peace and space.

Forty-year-old Alma lives on a houseboat on the quietly flowing Amstel River and is constantly busy with work. But one day she makes a radical decision and travels alone to Iran.

There lives Saraj, who keeps sheep and milks goats and is in love with a boy from another nomadic family with whom she has secret meetings on the banks of the Aras, the fast-flowing river that roars through the rugged mountain landscape. The nomads live from day to day and eat what the seasons offer them. Instead of constantly staring at their phones, they are connected to each other. But their survival is threatened. Due to climate change, which is bringing more and more frequent droughts, Arras is no longer so noisy and more and more young nomads want to move to the city.

In a beautiful poetic style, Sholeh Razazadeh has woven this perfectly allegorical novel in which she tells the story of Alma and Saraj, as well as of Aras and Amstel.