600 year old “Divan of Hafez” returned after over a decade on the underground market
When an Iranian antiques dealer died in Germany in 2007, his family realized that many rare manuscripts were missing was from his collection. By 2011 the bulk of them had been tracked down and… Read more »
Tehran Book Fair Uncensored continues, highlighting censored voices from the Persian diaspora
The Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF) came to a close on May 12th, two days after Donald Trump announced that the United States will be withdrawing from the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal. Several… Read more »
As US-Iranian relations worsen, Tehran’s book festival might be getting better
Yesterday, Donald Trump pulled out of what was considered to be Obama’s signature foreign policy deal — an agreement with Iran to lift sanctions in exchange for nuclear accountability. In return,… Read more »
Is Literary Iran ready to feel the Berne?
Enter a bookstore in Iran and you’re likely to be greeted by countless books that, although penned by familiar writers, you’ve never seen before: works long out-of-print, or never-before-in-print, elsewhere. Writing… Read more »
Iran gives the World Award for Book of the Year to Mohammad Hashim Kamali’s The Middle Path of Moderation
The Middle Path Of Moderation by Mohammad Hashim Kamali has been awarded one of Iran’s most prestigious literary prizes, the World Award for Book of the Year. The award was… Read more »
What happens when your state-controlled-and-funded news agency shows up at your international book fair?
Book fairs offer strange sights. We all know this. Greater-than-life-sized cutouts of Mitch Albom and John Grisham, for example. Impossible tents featuring brand new carpeting, carpeting that feels very good… Read more »
Iran bans wine, foreign animals, and certain foreign presidents from culture
Iran’s culture ministry has banned occurrences of wine, foreign animals, and certain foreign presidents in books published in the Islamic Republic, reports Ahmed Vahdat at the Telegraph. The suggestion (read: ruling)… Read more »
Egypt seizes and burns books that promote “fundamentalism and extremism” from mosques
The last half decade has seen Egypt’s government overthrown twice, punctuated by mob violence and periodic mass killings of demonstrators. Since the June 2014 election of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi,… Read more »
New York Times reporter wins legal battle with Obama administration
On Monday, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter James Risen’s fight with the Obama administration finally came to an end, when Justice Department prosecutors announced that they would not call… Read more »
Iranian children’s books coming to the UK
Amidst the mass exportation of Western children’s book, one small publisher, Tiny Owl, will bring Iranian children’s book to the UK. Founded by Delaram Ghanimifard and her husband, Tiny Owl… Read more »