Auctions under way with Spanish rights pre-empted for Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammadi's book

Auctions are under way and Spanish rights have already been pre-empted for the book written by this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Narges Mohammadi.

Mohammadi, one of Iran’s most prominent human rights activists, was awarded the prestigious prize last week. The hardback edition of her book White Torture: Interviews with Iranian Women Prisoners (Oneworld) sold out on the news of the award, and the publisher is "rushing out" a paperback edition with simultaneous printings in the UK, North America and India.

Interest in the foreign language rights has also flooded in. Oneworld holds world rights in Mohammedi’s debut, and it will be one of their lead titles at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The first rights to be sold in a frenzy of bidding across several territories were the Spanish rights in a five-figure pre-empt.

Auctions are currently under way in Italy and France, with strong interest expressed in the Danish and Turkish rights, among others. German rights were sold to Rowholt before the announcement, while audio rights were sold to OrangeSky Audio, and further auctions are expected at Frankfurt next week.

Mohammadi is currently in prison in Tehran, serving a 10-year jail sentence for "spreading anti-state propaganda". Her debut book was written in prison and tells the stories of 13 women in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, many of them detained in Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

The interviews were carried out by Mohammadi while the women were in prison or facing charges, documenting the resilience shown by those opposing the Iranian regime. The title refers to a form of torture being used against women involving extended solitary confinement and extreme sensory deprivation known as "white torture".

Mohammadi, who has been persecuted for the past 31 years for her activism and her writing, is vice-president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center. A professional engineer, she lost her post in 2009, following a jail sentence. She has also written articles as a journalist, arguing for social reforms in Iran, and published an essay collection. She campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty, women’s rights and the right to protest. Her documentary "White Torture" won an award for reportage at the International Film Festival and Human Rights’ Forum.