TEHRAN -- The winners of the 7th Parvin Etesami Literary Awards, which are presented to works by female literati with outstanding achievements in Persian literature, were announced during a ceremony at the Institute of Culture, Art and Architecture in Tehran on Monday evening.

The ceremony was attended by Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati, Iranian Poetry and Fiction Foundation Director Mehdi Qezeli, and Deputy Culture Minister for Cultural Affairs Seyyed Abbas Salehi and number of cultural officials.

The award for best literary research was presented to “History of Women’s Poetry” by Ruhangiz Karachi, while the book “Ab-o-Tab” by Saeideh Musavizadeh won the award in the children’s literature section.

The award for best classical poetry went to “The Circle” by Maryam Jafari Azarmani.

“Bruise” by Elham Fallah won the award for the best story.

The organizers also honored Farahanaz Jabbari for her lifetime studies on Parvin Etesami, and Beatriz De Salas from Venezuelan for her endeavors to translate Persian poet Ferdowsi’s Shahanmeh into Spanish.

In addition “Out of My Mind” (Sharon M. Draper) by Anita Yarmohammadi, and “A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers” (Xiaolu Guo) by Reyhaneh Vadivar received the honorable mention.

The prize has been named after Persian poet Parvin Etesami (1907-1940), one of the most prominent Persian poets of the 20th century. Her poetry is based upon themes of social, humanitarian and mystical concepts, and contains no allusions to romantic love or feminine sentiment.

Addressing the attendees, Culture Minister Jannati called Parvin the rare poet of the time, “She used to understand the issues related to women very well and her poetry embraced the characteristics of ancient poetry. She was much more worried about the society rather than herself.

“Alas, she did not live long to enrich Persian language, that is why we can consider Parvin the greatest poet of her time in the history of ancient Persian poetry,” he added.

Photo: Beatriz De Salas from Venezuelan receives award from Iranian Culture Minister Ali Jannati for her endeavors to translate the Shahanmeh into Spanish during the 7th Parvin Etesami Literary Awards in Tehran on August 8, 2016. (IRNA/Amir-Hossein Bandi)

RM/MMS