pill arial, patient sans-serif;”>An Iranian-born writer will read from and discuss her debut novel inspired by her family’s history at 4 p.m. Feb. 10 at California Lutheran University.

viagra arial,sans-serif;”>The free event in the Guest Writer Series featuring Parnaz Foroutan of Los Angeles will be held in the William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art on the Thousand Oaks campus.

Foroutan is the author of “The Girl in the Garden,” which was released in August. The novel is a suspenseful story of desire, obsession, power and vulnerability. For all his wealth and success, the head of a Jewish family living in early 20th-century Iran cannot have the one thing he desires above all: a male son and heir. His young wife, trapped in an oppressive marriage at a time when a woman’s worth is measured by her fertility, is driven to desperation by her failure to conceive and grows jealous and vindictive. Her husband makes a fateful choice that shatters the household and drives his wife to dark extremes to save herself and preserve her status within the family.

Foroutan received the PEN Center USA’s Emerging Voices Fellowship in 2009. She also received a Hedgebrook fellowship and residency, and received funding from the Elizabeth George Foundation among other institutions.

The Guest Writer Series will continue with Harryette Mullen on March 9.

The gallery is located inside William Rolland Stadium on the north side of Olsen Road between Campus Drive and Mountclef Boulevard.

The gallery and English Department are sponsoring the event. For more information, contact Jacqueline Lyons at [email protected].