Mahshid Amirshahi Harvard University, and has written dozens of articles mostly in Persian with occasional contributions to publications such as "Newsday" (USA) and "Les Temps Modernes" (France) in English and French. One of her notable political stands while in exile has been her instigation of the declaration of the Iranian intellectuals and artists in defence of the British author Salman Rushdie, who had become the object of a notorious manhunt owing to the fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini against him and his book "The Satanic Verses". Mahshid Amirshahi was one of the founders of the "Comité de défense de Salman Rushdie en
Luka and the Fire of Life Luka and the Fire of Life Luka and the Fire of Life is a novel by Salman Rushdie. It was published by Jonathan Cape, Random House in 2010. It is the sequel to "Haroun and the Sea of Stories". Rushdie has said "he turned to the world of video games for inspiration" and that "he wrote the book for his 13-year-old son". The book opens with protagonist Luka and his father Rashid walking home from Luka's school in the fictional city of Kahani in the land of Alifbay. They pass the Great Rings of Fire circus, where, upon seeing the