Shirindokht Nourmanesh is a creative writer, a fine artist, a literary translator and an independent researcher – with a focus on symbolism in writings of Iranian women. A published author with two compilations of short stories, a poetry collection, and several fiction and non-fiction pieces, she is the Iranian editor for The Third Script, stories from Iran, Tasmania, & the UK. Shirindokht is the founder of the San Jose City College Middle Eastern Heritage Month, the co-founder of Red Chair Writing Workshop, and the co-founder of Gerdayesh for the academic study of Shahnameh. She was the last director of the Association of Iranian American Writers and one of the three jurists for the No to Censorship Contest by Siamak Pourzand Foundation. A former lecturer at San Jose State University, Shirindokht now works as the Development Manager at Pars Equality Center, and pursues a Ph.D. in transpersonal psychology.