Introduction
Shaghayegh Moazzami is an Iranian-born, Montreal-based artist and graphic novelist whose work explores themes of identity, exile, and sociopolitical resistance. Born in 1986 in Bojnurd, Iran, she earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Tehran and began her career as a painter before turning to illustration and comics—despite restrictions on the medium in post-revolutionary Iran.
Since moving to Canada in 2016, she has contributed editorial cartoons to Iranian diaspora platforms such as IranWire, Tavaana, Aasoo, and Halazoon, often focusing on women’s rights and political repression. After initially publishing under a pseudonym, she began signing her real name, a decision that has prevented her from returning to Iran.
Her debut graphic novel, Hantée (2021), is a haunting autobiographical work about internalized repression. Her second, Les Coquelicots de Ridgewood (2024), explores immigrant life in Montreal through themes of housing insecurity. Her third book, Shadi, Une Histoire du Vol PS752 (2025), co-authored with Touka and Mana Neyestani, memorializes a friend lost in the 2020 plane tragedy and offers a searing critique of the Iranian regime.