Medora’s Book Club is a series held at Casa del Herrero that pays tribute to Medora Steedman Bass’ lifelong love of reading and books. The series celebrates the literary accomplishments of others on the grounds of the estate.
OCTOBER 18, 2023 | 6:00-7:30 PMThe first installment of Medora’s Book Club features an evening with Dr. Pardis Mahdavi, author of Book of Queens, the true story of the Middle Eastern horsewoman who fought the war on terror. Book of Queens reaches back centuries to the Persian Empire and a woman disguised as a man, facing an invading army, protected only by light armor and the stallion she sat astride.
Book of Queens is an epic tale of hidden women whose communal knowledge was instrumental in saving an animal as ancient as civilization, and who were the genesis of their own liberation.
Admission is $50 and includes an autographed copy of the book.
Space is limited. Reservations are required.
ABOUT THE AUTHORPardis Mahdavi, PhD is President of the University of La Verne. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has been a fellow at the Social Sciences Research Council, the American Council on Learned Societies, Google Ideas, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Dr. Mahdavi's career began as a journalist, writing for the Los Angeles Times Magazine. She continues to write for Foreign Affairs, Huffington Post, The Conversation, as well as Ms. Magazine. Her work has been featured in her academic books as well as numerous public opinion and policy pieces.
Dr. Mahdavi has published four single authored books and one edited volume in addition to numerous journal and news articles. She is the author of Passionate Uprisings: Iran’s Sexual Revolution, as well as multiple essays on the significance of sexual politics in the Arab Spring and Green Movement across the Middle East. More recently, her work on sexual politics has been featured in The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Zocalo, the Denver Post, as well as Facebook Watch. (Source: Google Books)