Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal, and Sarah Shourd

discuss

A Sliver of Light:
Three Americans Imprisoned in Iran

This event includes a book signing

Date

Mar
21
Friday
March 21, 2014
7:00 PM ET

Location

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Tickets

This event is free; no tickets are required.

Harvard Book Store is pleased to welcome SHANE BAUER, JOSH FATTAL, and SARAH SHOURD for a dicussion of their book, A Sliver of Light: Three Americans Imprisoned in Iran.

Three young Americans captured by Iranian forces and held in captivity for two years tell their story.

In summer 2009, Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal, and Sarah Shourd were hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan when they unknowingly crossed into Iran and were captured by a border patrol. Accused of espionage, the three Americans ultimately found themselves in Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison, where they discovered that pooling their strength of will and relying on each other were the only ways they could survive.

In this poignant memoir, “the hikers” finally tell their side of the story. They recount the deception that lured them into Iran in the first place and describe the psychological torment of interrogation and solitary confinement. We follow them as they make surprising alliances with their fellow prisoners and even some of their captors, while their own bonds with each other are tested and deepened. Told through a bold and innovative interweaving of the authors’ three voices, here is a rare glimpse inside Iran and a timeless portrayal of hardship and hope.

"The narrative captures the claustrophobic atmosphere of daily life in prison, a life made even worse by their imperfect grasp of Persian. It’s a testament to the willpower and discipline of the three captives that they maintained their values and sense of justice through their long ordeal." —Publishers Weekly

"The three American hikers imprisoned in Iran in 2009 alternate relaying their versions of their scary, uncertain ordeal....An unsugared account that demonstrates the admirable, unbreakable bond of friends, parents and countrymen." —Kirkus Reviews

Josh Fattal
Josh Fattal

Josh Fattal

A graduate of Berkeley's program in environmental economics and policy, Josh Fattal is an activist and organizer focused on sustainable development. He has spoken at universities, human rights conferences, and private events to describe the experience of imprisonment in Iran. 

Sarah Shourd
Sarah Shourd

Sarah Shourd

Sarah Shourd is a writer, educator and Contributing Editor at Solitary Watch, and is currently based in Oakland, California. Sarah has done international human rights work with the Zapatista indigenous movement in Chiapas, Mexico; organized with women’s groups against unsolved murders of sweatshop workers in Juárez, Mexico; and taught for the Iraqi Student Project while living in Damascus, Syria. After her wrongful imprisonment in Iran, Sarah has become an advocate for prisoners' rights, focusing her writing, speaking, and theater projects on the wide-spread use of prolonged solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails. She has written for the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN, and Newsweek/Daily Beast, and contributes a blog to Huffington Post.

Shane Bauer
Shane Bauer

Shane Bauer

Shane Bauer is an investigative journalist and photographer. He has reported from locations such as Iraq, Sudan, Chad, Syria, Yemen, Israel/Palestine, and California’s Pelican Bay supermax prison. He has written for Mother Jones, The Nation, Salon, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor, and others. He has received the Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism, the John Jay/ H.F. Guggenheim Award for Criminal Justice Reporting, and many other national awards. He was also a finalist in the Livingston Award for journalists under 35. 

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Walking from the Harvard Square T station: 2 minutes

As you exit the station, reverse your direction and walk east along Mass. Ave. in front of the Cambridge Savings Bank. Cross Dunster St. and proceed along Mass. Ave for three more blocks. You will pass Au Bon Pain, JP Licks, and TD Bank. Harvard Book Store is located at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Plympton St.

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FAQ:

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