Mahmoud Dowlatabadi (Persian: محمود دولت‌آبادی‎) (born 1 August 1940 in Dowlatabad, Sabzevar) is an Iranian writer and actor, known for his promotion of social and artistic freedom in contemporary Iran and his realist depictions of rural life, drawn from personal experience.

As a teenager he found himself hopelessly bored.He caught a ride tofor Tehran to pursue theatre. There Dowlatabadi worked for a year before he could afford to take theatre classes. When he did, he rose to the top of his class.He also ventured into journalism, fiction, and screenplays. “Whenever I was done with work and wasn’t preoccupied with finding food and so on, I would sit down and just write,” he said.

He wrote Missing Soluch which became his first novel published in English, preceding The Colonel.

He has also garnered praise internationally, with Kirkus Reviews calling The Colonel, “A demanding and richly composed book by a novelist who stands apart.” The Independent described the novel as “passionate,” and emphasized, “It’s about time that everyone even remotely interested in Iran read this novel.”

• 2009: Haus der Kulturen Berlin International Literary Award, shortlist, The Colonel
• 2011: Man Asian Literary Prize, longlist, The Colonel
• 2013: Jan Michalski Prize for Literature, winner, The Colonel.