Born and raised in Iran, Mohammad Yaghoubi is an award-winning playwright, director, and screenwriter. He moved to Canada in 2015 and co-founded the Toronto-based NOWADAYS THEATRE company in 2016. His plays have been translated into six languages. Select awards include the Promising Pen Prize from Cahoots Theatre for his 2021 play Persimmon, winner of the Iranian Playwrights Society and third place of the New Play Contest at the 2016 Toronto Fringe Festival for Outstanding Writing for A Moment of Silence, and the Tehran Theatre Festival Award (Fadjr) for Outstanding Direction and Writing for Winter of 88.