Martyr!

Martyr! is the breathtaking debut novel from acclaimed poet Kaveh Akbar, delivering a richly layered and emotionally powerful story about faith, addiction, identity, and the search for transcendence. Told with lyrical brilliance and dark humor, the novel follows Cyrus Shams, a disillusioned, grieving Iranian-American who is obsessed with martyrdom—his mother died in a plane downed by the U.S. military, and he is haunted by the meaning of her death and the echoes of inherited trauma.
As Cyrus navigates sobriety, loss, and a fractured sense of belonging, he sets out to find what it truly means to live a meaningful life—and whether self-sacrifice is a path to redemption or simply another form of escape. Along the way, he encounters mystics, misfits, and artists, all part of a world where the sacred and profane constantly intertwine.
Martyr!
is a profound meditation on what it means to survive in a broken world while yearning for spiritual wholeness.
Why Read This Book?
A Daring and Lyrical Debut: Combines poetic language with emotional rawness in a deeply introspective narrative.
Themes of Faith and Identity: Explores Islam, addiction, grief, and generational trauma with nuance and insight.
Culturally Resonant: Offers a vivid portrait of the Iranian-American experience in a post-9/11 world.
For Fans of Literary Fiction: Recommended for readers who enjoy works by Ocean Vuong, Jesmyn Ward, or Hanya Yanagihara.
About the Author
Kaveh Akbar is an Iranian-American poet and writer whose work has received widespread acclaim for its spiritual depth, formal innovation, and emotional honesty. His poetry collections include
Calling a Wolf a Wolf
and
Pilgrim Bell
. Akbar is also the poetry editor of
The Nation
and teaches creative writing at the University of Iowa. With
Martyr!
, he brings his lyrical mastery to fiction, crafting a novel that is both profoundly human and spiritually resonant.