Homa Sarshar

An outstanding journalist, writer, speaker and media personality, Homa Sarshar was born in Shiraz in 1946. She received her B.A. degree in French Literature from Tehran University. From 1964 to 1971 she worked as a correspondent reporter, special events reporter and columnist for Zan-e-Ruz (Today's Woman) weekly magazine. In 1971 she won Zan-e Ruz's award for the best coverage of the celebrations of 25th centennial of monarchy in Iran, and the same year she joined Keyhan newspaper as editor and columnist where she remained until 1978. In 1972, she expanded her career in Iran's mass media by joining the National Iranian Radio and Television as a producer and director. In December 1978 Homa Sarshar moved to Los Angeles where she resumed her career as a freelance journalist, radio and television producer, and on-air host. In 1981she received her Masters degree in Journalism from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communications, and from that year until 1983 she worked as the editor-in-chief of Shofar, a monthly magazine in Los Angeles. From 1982-1990 she worked as co-producer, writer and talk-show host at Omid-e Iran Radio and Television where she launched a number of shows including the program Dar kucheh paskucheh ha-ye ghorbat (In the Back Alleys of Exile). These programs eventually led to the publication of her first collection of writings under the same title in 1993 (in two volumes).

In 1995, Homa Sarshar founded the Center for Iranian Jewish Oral History in Los Angeles, an organization that has succeeded in collecting a wealth of information and documentation about the life and history of Jews in Iran. Since1998, she has been working with Jaam-e Jam Television as writer, producer, and host of various programs, the most recent of which is a two-hour live talk show that is broadcast weekly throughout the United States, Europe, and Iran.

In addition to the numerous journal and newspaper articles which she has published, and the many hours of aired television and radio programs which she has produced, directed, and hosted Homa Sarshar has also co-edited and published five volumes of the Journal of the Iranian Women's Studies Foundation, and four volumes of The History of Contemporary Iranian Jews. Her most recent book Sja1ban Ja`fari, based on edited transcripts of over 100 hours of her interviews with the famous traditional sportsman, was first published in Los Angeles in 2001. Seven different publishers inside Iran have since reprinted the book.

Homar Sarshar was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Encyclopedia Iranica Foundation from 1993 to 1997. She has dedicated much of her life to various philanthropic ventures and has actively campaigned for many human rights and women's rights issues.