TEHRAN – China’s Writers Publishing House has acquired the copyrights to two young adult novels “Hasti” and “Call Me Ziba” by Iranian writer Farhad Hassanzadeh.

The publisher selected the books in May during the 32nd Tehran International Book Fair, which hosted China as a special guest, Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), which is the publisher of the original books, announced on Saturday.

The contemporary literature is the central focus of the Writers Publishing House established in 1953.

“Call Me Ziba” is about Ziba, a young girl who wants to help her father escape from a mental hospital so the two can celebrate her birthday together.

The book has previously been published in English, Arabic, Turkish and Armenian.

“Hasti” is about a twelve-year-old girl from the southwestern Iranian city of Abadan, who is unlike any other teenage girl in her city. While the conservative society expects girls her age to play with dolls, do needlework and dream of their wedding days, Hasti dresses like boys, rides on motorbikes and plays soccer with boys.

“Hasti” has also been translated into Turkish.

The writer of bestsellers such as “The Backyard” and “Watermelon with Love”, Hassanzadeh was selected as one of Iran’s nominees for the 2019 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

He has also been nominated for the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Awards. 

Hassanzadeh was added to the Honor List of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) in 2018. He received the honor for his book “Call Me Ziba”.

The celebrated author has written over 80 books, including “The 7th Bench by the Lake” and “Bambak’s Scorpions”.

Photo: This picture shows the front covers of the Persian versions of Iranian Children’s book writer Farhad Hassanzadeh’s novels “Call Me Ziba” (L) and “Hasti”.

RM/MMS/YAW