Two feedbacks from Italian readers of The Gaze of the Gazelle (Negli occhi della gazzella)

Your book hit my the soul…

Sorry but I write with translator, my name is Romina, I am writing from Italy (ancona-marche). I read the book In the Eyes of the Gazelle (the Gaze of the Gazelle: Negli occhi della gazzella), it was so beautiful!
I tried to understand better what you meant, jihad, Basij, imams, mullahs, jinn, Shari’a, Tudeh and other terms … I have seen many pictures, women with hijab, your wonderful mountains, the lights of Tehran in the evening, the moon, the stars, Iran is really a beautiful world!
I found pictures of Neda when she died, and I have them saved on my PC, sometimes I look at those beautiful eyes that only the Iranian women have … Her smile is forever caught in the middle, then it’s your book, which hit my soul, I would like to thank you for the gift that you gave me, your story, your writing about your life, your emotions … I can never forget!
I thank you very much for what imprinted on my heart!
I’m talking to my friends about your work, I would like to share this excitement with them!
I hug you my friend!
with great affection
Romi

Thank you for making me appreciate my freedom…

Thank you Arash, I want to thank you for making me appreciate my freedom to be and do whatever I want and feel. Thank you for letting me know lot of things about your beautiful country. Thank you for letting me know about the story of your country, of its culture through the innocent but critic eyes of a little smart boy, of an adolescent and of a young man as you was and I am. Thank you for letting me knowing Neda, the Voice of freedom. Last but not least thank you for letting me cry, on a plane, reading the last page of your beautiful book “The Gaze of the Gazelle” just few hours ago, reading words of hope for the present.

Nothing personal just wanted you to know how much you impressed me with your words. Again thank you

Damiano

Your book hit my the soul…

‘You don’t deserve to be published’ Book censorship in Iran

Citation: Hejazi, Arash, ‘You don’t deserve to be published’ Book Censorship in Iran, LOGOS: The Journal of the World Book Community, Volume 22, Number 1, 2011 , pp. 53-62(10), DOI: 10.1163/095796511X562644

‘Read the rest of the article in PDF here: ‘You Don’t Deserve to Be Published: Censorship in Iran’

Censorship is as old as human intellect. It has been practised in almost every country at some level throughout history: from 399 BC, when Socrates was forced to drink poison, to the horrors of the Inquisition, and the oficial coining of the concept with the publication of Index Librorum Prohibitorum by the Roman Catholic Church; from the obligation of English publishers to register their books with the Stationers’ Company in the 16th century until the case of D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover; and the Nazi book-burning campaign and the absolute offfĳicial control of the governments of the USSR, China, and Eastern European countries over published material.
Continue reading ‘You don’t deserve to be published’ Book censorship in Iran

The censor is crushing us

The censorship by the “Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance” of Iran is crushing us. Today is the inauguration day of Obama, the first African American President of the United States of America. Exactly 40 years ago, in 1968, a man who had this dream was assasinated because he believed that this dream was possible. 45 years ago, before the Act of Civil rights was signed by Johnson, due to the efforts of Martin Luther King, the Africa-American’s did not have the right to vote.

Is there any hope for us?

I believe so. But is this hope strong enough to keep us struggling in a path that seems to be closed? I don’t know. What I know is that the current situation is destroying the Iranina publishing industry NOW. Whatever hope there is for a reform, we should cross our fingers that the change doesn’t come too late, when we would have to rebuild everything from scratch.

Right now, in Caravan Books, we have 25 titles in the process of being read by the censor officers; the average time since they have been submitted: 18 months. Only this year, 10 other of our new titles were censored completely and labled as: “They don’t deserve to be published”. We have been able to publish only 17 new books, about 40% of what we published 4 years ago. The ministry of culture has also started to cancell the previous permissions granted already, blocking our way to reprint the books.

In june this year, the ministry of culture even cancelled our licence to publish our cultural and Literary quarterly, Book Fiesta, which we had been publishing for 5 years. The reason, “Lilith”, a short story by Primo Levi that we had published in our last issue. We are not even allowed to appeal.

The main concern of the government regarding the book industry, seems to be translated fiction.

I really hope that the situation changes soon, not in 40 years.

about me, and the diaries of an Iranian editor and writer

I am Arash Hejazi, a novel writer, translator, editor, from Iran.

To know about me, you can check my profile at the official website of Caravan Books Publishing House, the publishing house which I am its chief editor.

Being an editor in Iran, has its own challenges and pecularities, quite another world, comparing it with the life of authors, editors and publishers in most countries. In Iran, we have official censorship and no international copyright agreement, making our book industry one of a kind. What are we doing in Iran? what do people read? and what is the position of the society of intellectuals in the international context against Iran? That is what I am going to write about in my blog.

I welcome your comments.