TEHRAN – The southern Iranian port Bushehr, renowned for its hospitable people and upbeat music, was selected on Monday as Iran’s Book Capital for the Iranian calendar year of 1396 (March 20, 2017-2018).

Nineteen other cities, including Isfahan, Tabriz, Shiraz, Kerman and Yazd, were also nominated for the title, the organizers announced during a special ceremony at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall.

In addition, ten villages were crowned Book Loving Villages of the Year during the Festival of Book Loving Villages and Nomads held on the sidelines of the ceremony.

The festival is organized every year to promote reading among villagers and nomads. 

Iran’s Book Capital is annually selected by a team of literati and scholars assigned by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. 

The Southwestern city of Ahvaz for 2015 and northeastern city of Neyshabur for 2016 were Iran’s first and second book capitals.

“Bushehr is a small Iran, which shines like a gem in the civilization of the land,” Culture Minister Seyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri said at the ceremony.

“Bushehr is home to a hard-working people of great generosity, and choosing the city as Iran’s Book Capital shows that it also has a cultured population,” he added.

Photo: Officials pose during the Festival of Book Loving Villages and Nomads at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on February 20, 2017. (Mehr/Mehran Riazi)

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