Faisal Tehrani

Faisal Tehrani is an essayist, playwright and novelist. Faisal has won numerous literary prizes and awards, including Malaysia’s National Art Award (Anugerah Seni Negara) in 2006. Faisal is currently regarded as a controversial author by the Malaysian authorities for experimenting in various forms and proposing alternative discourses in his works.

The ASEAN Literary Festival 2017 named him as ‘one of Malaysia’s and Southeast Asia’s important writers’. Among his best known works are Cinta Hari-hari Rusuhan (translated into Indonesian as Lelaki Yang Membunuh Kenangan, published by Bentang Pustaka), 1515 (published in French by Les Indes Savantes), Bagaimana Anyss Naik Ke Langit (translated into English by Brigitte Bresson as How Anyss Went to Heaven) and The Professor (translated into English by Brigitte Bresson and published by Gerak Budaya in 2020).

Faisal’s latest novel, a satire published in Indonesia, Koro (2022) has also been translated into English and will be published by Penguin SouthEastAsia.

In 2022, Faisal wrote a screenplay for the film Maryam Pagi ke Malam, with director Badrul Hisham Ismail which premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival (2023) to favourable reviews.

Faisal is Visiting Fellow at ISEAS-Yusuf Ishak, Singapore, and an Associate with the Harvard Divinity School’s project on the Global Shia Diaspora. Most of his academic work is centred around human rights, Muslim trendsetters and alternative discourses.