Weekend Booking: Jasmin Darznik to discuss her new novel at Booksmith

Forough Farrokhzad, an Iranian poet writing in the 1950s and ’60s, lived a life of stark contrasts as she voraciously pursued her independence in a society ruled by strict tradition. Farrokhzad’s story — and her revolutionary poetry — are celebrated in a new novel by Jasmin Darznik titled “Song of a Captive Bird.” The novel is Darznik’s second book, after her memoir “The Good Daughter” (published by Grand Central in 2011), which explored the author’s own history and her mother’s story as a young woman in Iran.

Darznik teaches at the University of San Francisco and is scheduled to read from her new novel at the Booksmith, 1644 Haight St., at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15. For more information, go to www.booksmith.com.