Category: Our Collaborators

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious:  review by Liz Fincham

“I think it will be one of the books that will change my life.“

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious:  Diaries from Tehran at War offers an intimate, humane and urgent record of ordinary life under bombardment and is now available to readers across the world in all formats.

Written by Ali Asghar Seidabadi, an acclaimed Iranian researcher, author, and a well-known cultural figure, this extraordinary diary-style work offers readers a rare, immediate and deeply human account of life in Tehran during war, bombardment and internet disruption.

Thank you to long standing NOP collaborator, Liz Fincham, for her treasured review below.

“Profound, passionate, poetic, this important book takes us deep into the realities of daily life, in Tehran, now, in 2026. From the vivid title, When the Sparrows grow Anxious,  we know we are in the hands of a thoughtful writer who walks us on a journey  far beyond our often superficial knowledge of Tehran at War.

Behind the promises of posturing politicians, news reports and sound bites, here is the reality. We are invited to hear voices  of people of peace caught up in this war.  Despite the tragedies of deaths, injury, destruction, in this beautiful, diverse and complex country, the essential message is one of hope for peace.

As families and friends  gather together in homes or outdoors, to share talk and meals, the sense of their courage is strong. The beauty of this place is celebrated alongside the documenting of almost daily attacks. 

The over-arching message is of hope and prayers that peace will return. Birdsong and breaking of bread are metaphors of resilience.  I think it will be one of the books that will change my life. Essential reading for these times.”

Liz Fincham

For the hard cover version, you can click here:

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War (HARD COVER)

For the paperback version, you can click here:

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War (PAPERBACK)

 If you prefer to buy their copy through Amazon, you can buy hard cover, paperback or e-book by clicking here:

If you would rather order a physical book through your preferred bookshops, you can quote both the name of the book or the relevant ISBN numbers:

Hardcover: ISBN          9798197042132

Paperback: ISBN         9798180483287

A diary of war, culture and human endurance

The title’s image of anxious sparrows captures the emotional force of the book: small lives continuing amid forces far larger than themselves. Through that recurring motif, Seidabadi turns the daily experience of conflict into something both specific and universal.

The diary is rooted in Tehran, but its reach is international. As a writer and editor with deep connections across global children’s and young adult literature, Seidabadi writes from within a network of friendships, correspondence and cultural solidarity. His messages to writers, illustrators and book people beyond Iran become part of the book’s emotional architecture.What emerges is a record of war seen not through military strategy or state rhetoric, but through culture, family, memory and daily survival.

Readers encounter a city under pressure, but also a mind refusing to surrender its clarity. The result is a book that speaks powerfully to anyone interested in contemporary history, human rights, international literature, peace, cultural memory and the moral role of writing in times of crisis.

About the author

Ali Asghar Seidabadi is an Iranian researcher, author, and a well-known cultural figure. His newspaper columns and books for both adults and children are widely read and he is regularly invited to speak at various events and institutions and he frequently give interviews to non-governmental media outlets. During the 1990s, widely regarded as the golden age of Iranian journalism, Seidabadi became a well-known figure in Iran’s cultural and journalistic spheres. He was responsible for the culture, arts, and thought sections of several widely read reformist newspapers and later became a member of their editorial boards. Alongside his journalistic work, he wrote books for children and young adults and conducted research in children’s literature, reading promotion, and cultural studies.

In When The Sparrows Grow Anxious, Seidabadi brings that literary sensibility to bear on lived experience. The book is observant, humane and disciplined. It is marked by attention to small details, an instinct for connection and an unwavering commitment to nonviolence.

This is a diary by someone who understands the importance of stories — not as escape, but as a way of preserving human dignity when the surrounding world becomes frighteningly unstable.

You can find more information here.

Publisher Nick Owen MBE, founder of Nick Owen Publishing, said:

“At a time when the President of the USA can assert “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again…” Ali Asghar Seidabadi has written a book of huge courage. These diary notes attend to the human texture of war:  to windows, birds, phone calls, friendships, children’s books, and the stubborn persistence of ordinary life. That is precisely why the book matters and why we are honoured to bring his work to a wider, global public.”

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious is an important and timely publication because it offers something urgently needed: a human-scale account of war from inside the experience itself. It explores the cultural infrastructure of Iran through these diary notes, sometimes prompted by remarks made by President Trump.   It shows that some forms of Iranian behaviour and social response,  which may appear strange or incomprehensible to President Trump and to many people around the world, have deep mythological roots.

For further information, please leave your contact details here and we will get straight back to you:

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Email:     nick@nickowenpublishing.co.uk
Website: www.nickowenpublishing.com

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War
Author: Ali Asghar Seidabadi
Publisher: Nick Owen Publishing Ltd
Publication: 15 June 2026
ISBN: 9798197042132
Format: [Hardback / Paperback / Kindle / eBook)
Available from: Nick Owen Publishing / Amazon

#WhenTheSparrowsGrowAnxious

#DiariesFromTehran

#BooksBuildBridges

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War (PAPERBACK)

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War (PAPERBACK)

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War is an intimate, humane and urgent record of ordinary life under bombardment.

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The Photographers of When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Maryam Al-Momen Dehkordi

We’re profiling some of the photographers whose work appears in When the Sparrows Grow Anxious and reflecting on how their images contribute to its power, texture and witness.

We would particularly like to thank the IRNA news agency, which generously donated almost two thirds of the photographs used in the publication. We are also deeply grateful to the many individual photographers whose work has helped make the book such an exceptional production:

Ahmad Moeini Jam, Akbar Tavakkoli, Ali Sharifi, Bahram Bayat, Eshaq Aghaei, Mahmoud Farjami, Maryam Al Momen Dehkordi, Marzieh Mousavi, Marzieh Pourarab, Marzieh Soleimani, Mohammad Mahdi Pourarab, Mohammadrasoul Moradi, Mohsen Rezaei, Sadegh Miri and Sadra Nouri.

We continue with the work of Maryam Al-Momen Dehkordi

Searching for the American Pilot

Remember this photograph. A few years from now, when Hollywood inevitably turns this war into a movie, come back to this image and compare what you see on the screen with what is here: this blue sky, these green hills, this solitary tree, and these few men quietly making their way up a dirt road. You may discover how different reality looks from its cinematic retelling.

The photograph shows four people: a middle-aged man, a teenage boy, and two younger men. They carry old rifles over their shoulders as they walk across a hillside in the Zagros Mountains. There is none of the urgency or spectacle usually associated with war films. Everything appears calm. If you did not know the story behind the image, you might assume they were simply heading into the mountains for a day of hunting or a routine excursion.

But another story is unfolding. Earlier that day, an American fighter jet had crashed in this region, and its pilot had survived by ejecting and parachuting into the rugged landscape below. Since then, different groups have been searching for him, and these four men are part of that search.

What makes the photograph memorable is the contrast between its subject and its atmosphere. On one hand, it is connected to a military incident filled with tension and uncertainty. On the other, the landscape seems indifferent to human conflict. Clouds drift across the sky, spring grass covers the slopes, and the shadow of a lone tree stretches across the ground.

Photographer Maryam Al-Momen Dehkordi captured this moment on April 4, 2026. It is not a photograph of combat. It is a photograph of anticipation – of people moving through the Zagros Mountains, scanning the distance, aware that somewhere among the valleys and rocky ridges, the American pilot may still be waiting to be found.

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious is now available in all formats.

For the hard cover version, you can click here:

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War (HARD COVER)

For the paperback version, you can click here:

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War (PAPERBACK)

 If you prefer to buy your copy through Amazon, you can buy hard cover, paperback or e-book by clicking here:

If you would rather order a physical book through your preferred bookshops, you can quote both the name of the book or the relevant ISBN numbers:

Hardcover: ISBN          9798197042132

Paperback: ISBN         9798180483287

The Photographers of When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Ahmad Moeini Jam.

Over the next week, we will be profiling some of the photographers whose work appears in the book, and reflecting on how their images contribute to its power, texture and witness.

We would particularly like to thank the IRNA news agency, which generously donated almost two thirds of the photographs used in the publication. We are also deeply grateful to the many individual photographers whose work has helped make the book such an exceptional production:

Ahmad Moeini Jam, Akbar Tavakkoli, Ali Sharifi, Bahram Bayat, Eshaq Aghaei, Mahmoud Farjami, Maryam Al Momen Dehkordi, Marzieh Mousavi, Marzieh Pourarab, Marzieh Soleimani, Mohammad Mahdi Pourarab, Mohammadrasoul Moradi, Mohsen Rezaei, Sadegh Miri and Sadra Nouri.

We continue with the work of Ahmad Moeini Jam.

A Broken Bridge, a Bloodstained Sizdah Bedar

At midday on Sizdah Bedar, the thirteenth day of the Persian New Year holidays, the sky over Karaj was clear and blue. Around Bridge B1 on the city’s northern bypass, families had gathered to spend the day outdoors. Some were sitting on the nearby slopes, others had spread picnic blankets, and children were playing in the open spaces beneath and around the bridge. A few hours later, the scene had changed completely.

In the photograph, part of the bridge has collapsed. Massive concrete beams are broken, and large pieces of concrete and metal lie scattered across the ground. Steel cables and structural elements have been damaged, while signs of fire and explosion are visible throughout the site. Beneath the bridge, where families had spent the holiday only hours before, there are now only traces of destruction and confusion.

The attack caught many people by surprise. Those in the area rushed to leave the scene. Items brought for a day of recreation were left behind—blankets, containers, and personal belongings that had been part of an ordinary holiday gathering but now lay among the debris.

In the background, the city of Karaj and the surrounding dry hills can be seen. In the foreground stands a structure that once carried thousands of people each day but is now severely damaged and partially collapsed.

The power of this image lies in the contrast it captures: a public holiday associated with nature, family gatherings, and leisure, set against the aftermath of destruction. More than a photograph of a bridge, it is a photograph of people whose ordinary day was suddenly interrupted by an event that transformed the landscape around them.

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious is now available in all formats.

For the hard cover version, you can click here:

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War (HARD COVER)

For the paperback version, you can click here:

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War (PAPERBACK)

 If you prefer to buy your copy through Amazon, you can buy hard cover, paperback or e-book by clicking here:

If you would rather order a physical book through your preferred bookshops, you can quote both the name of the book or the relevant ISBN numbers:

Hardcover: ISBN          9798197042132

Paperback: ISBN         9798180483287

The Photographers of When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Marzieh Pourarab 

Over the next week, we will be profiling some of the photographers whose work appears in the book, and reflecting on how their images contribute to its power, texture and witness.

We would particularly like to thank the IRNA news agency, which generously donated almost two thirds of the photographs used in the publication. We are also deeply grateful to the many individual photographers whose work has helped make the book such an exceptional production:

Ahmad Moeini Jam, Akbar Tavakkoli, Ali Sharifi, Bahram Bayat, Eshaq Aghaei, Mahmoud Farjami, Maryam Al Momen Dehkordi, Marzieh Mousavi, Marzieh Pourarab, Marzieh Soleimani, Mohammad Mahdi Pourarab, Mohammadrasoul Moradi, Mohsen Rezaei, Sadegh Miri and Sadra Nouri.

We continue with the work of Marzieh Pourarab.

The Bird and the Ruins

In an alley covered with rubble, a gray-haired man wearing a black Manchester United jacket walks through the debris carrying a small metal birdcage. Inside the cage is a white bird. Broken glass and fragments of brick lie underfoot, while behind him stand damaged residential buildings with shattered windows and scarred walls.

The birdcage is the first thing that draws the eye. Amid the destruction and scattered remains of daily life, the man carries something he considered worth saving. He is not looking at the camera, nor does he appear to hesitate. He simply moves forward through a street that no longer resembles the place it once was.

The photograph was taken by Mohammad Mehdi Pourarab. Damaged trees line the alley, and signs of destruction are visible throughout the frame. Traces of ordinary life can still be seen here and there, though much of it is now buried beneath dust and rubble.

The strength of the image lies in its simplicity. It does not show the moment of an explosion or the work of emergency crews. Instead, it shows a man walking through the aftermath, holding a birdcage. That small detail offers a powerful glimpse into the human consequences of war: how, in the midst of devastation, people try to preserve what matters most to them.

More than a photograph of destruction, this image is about what people choose to carry with them when so much else has been lost.

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious is now available in all formats.

For the hard cover version, you can click here:

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War (HARD COVER)

For the paperback version, you can click here:

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War (PAPERBACK)

 If you prefer to buy your copy through Amazon, you can buy hard cover, paperback or e-book by clicking here:

If you would rather order a physical book through your preferred bookshops, you can quote both the name of the book or the relevant ISBN numbers:

Hardcover: ISBN          9798197042132

Paperback: ISBN         9798180483287

The Photographers of When the Sparrows Grow Anxious.

Over the next week, we will be profiling some of the photographers whose work appears in the book, and reflecting on how their images contribute to its power, texture and witness.

We would particularly like to thank the IRNA news agency, which generously donated almost two thirds of the photographs used in the publication. We are also deeply grateful to the many individual photographers whose work has helped make the book such an exceptional production:

Ahmad Moeini Jam, Akbar Tavakkoli, Ali Sharifi, Bahram Bayat, Eshaq Aghaei, Mahmoud Farjami, Maryam Al Momen Dehkordi, Marzieh Mousavi, Marzieh Pourarab, Marzieh Soleimani, Mohammad Mahdi Pourarab, Mohammadrasoul Moradi, Mohsen Rezaei, Sadegh Miri and Sadra Nouri.

We begin with the work of Mohsen Rezaei.

Turkmenistan Street in Tehran: After the Attack

On Turkmenistan Street in Tehran, a motionless man lies on a corrugated metal sheet amid the rubble. A red cloth has been wrapped around his head, and one of his arms hangs over the edge of the metal. A woman in a light-colored headscarf kneels beside him, while a young man stands a few steps away. Both seem fixed on a scene that, only hours earlier, had been part of the city’s ordinary daily life.

At the intersection of Turkmenistan Street and Motahari Avenue, little remains of the local police station except twisted, burned metal. The blast damaged surrounding buildings as well. Windows have been shattered, walls cracked, and nearby shops and homes bear clear signs of destruction.

On the right side of the photograph, an emergency ambulance is parked at the scene. Some people are making phone calls or checking on the injured. Others are assisting rescue workers, while many simply stand and watch. Cars and motorcycles still line the street, but normal movement has come to a halt; the entire area is overshadowed by the aftermath of the attack.

The photograph was taken by Mohsen Rezaei on the afternoon of Monday, March 1, 2026, following an Israeli airstrike on this part of central Tehran. It captures a moment when everyday life was abruptly interrupted. A street that only hours before had been filled with commuters, shopkeepers, and office workers had become a site of rescue efforts and devastation.

Yet even amid the destruction, signs of solidarity remain. Residents, bystanders, and emergency workers stand together, helping the wounded and trying to preserve a sense of humanity in the face of loss.

To order your copy now or find out more about the work of NOP please feel free to get in touch here!

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Email:     nick@nickowenpublishing.co.uk
Website: www.nickowenpublishing.com

When the Sparrows Grow Anxious: Diaries from Tehran at War
Author: Ali Asghar Seidabadi
Publisher: Nick Owen Publishing Ltd
Publication: 15 June 2026
ISBN: 9798197042132
Format: [Hardback / Paperback / Kindle / eBook)
Available from: Nick Owen Publishing / Amazon

#WhenTheSparrowsGrowAnxious

#DiariesFromTehran

#BooksBuildBridges

A stylized illustration of a bird with a brown and white plumage, standing on two legs against a white background.