Nasser Rahmaninejad (1939–) is an artist, activist, and writer. His celebrated theater career began in 1959 Iran, where he founded the independent theater group, The MEHR Theater Group, later the Iran Theater Association, was imprisoned under the Shah’s regime, freed in the 1979 revolution, but ultimately forced into exile. 

In the United States, Rahmaninejad continued his work by writing essays, translation articles, and lecturing at a variety of academic organizations, including the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa and the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. His plays include My Heart, My Homeland, produced and performed by the Department of Theater of Columbia College of Chicago (1995); and One Page of Exile, performed in the inaugural “New Windows on Old Pasadena” festival (1996). His latest play is Between the Grave and the Moon, produced by the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University in 2016. 

Rahmaninejad’s life, work, and legacy are described in his memoir, A Man of the Theater: Survival as an Artist in Iran (New Village Press, 2020). He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.