TEHRAN – The Iran Book Week opened its 30th edition on Saturday, three days sooner than planned to avoid overlap with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Youths usually confine their full attention to issues concerning football during the World Cup, therefore the change has been made to keep their total concentration on the book week programs, the organizers have said. 

The Iran Book Week opens every year on the 24th of Aban on the Iranian calendar, which is celebrated as Book, Reading and Librarianship Day by the Iran Book and Literature House.

This year’s book week has selected the motto “We Are Those People Who Read”.

The Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults – Kanoon - has prepared a wide variety of programs.

As the most attractive part of its programs, Kanoon is streaming six stage and animation adaptations of books previously published by the institute on its platform, cinema.kpf.ir/film.

One of the animated movies is “The Farmer and the Cock” directed by Parvin Tajvid based on a book of the same title by Manuchehr Karimzadeh.

“Night Song” directed by Moein Samadi based on Shokufeh Taqi’s book “The Most Beautiful Song” and “Once There Was the Moon and a Fox”, director Babak Nazari’s movie inspired by writer Anahita Teimurian’s book of the same title, will also stream.

Videos of the theater productions “God’s Cookies” by Arash Sharifzadeh and “Goodbye, Old Raccoon” by Fahimeh Mirzahosseini will be screened. The plays have been staged based on books by the Tehran-based French writer and illustrator Claire Jobert.

Inspired by Ali Khakbazan’s book, “The Old Man and the Tiger” by Hassan Dadashgar will also be available on the platform during the week.

The National Library and Archives of Iran is also conducting some cultural programs.

Experts on rare manuscripts will come together at the library on Tuesday to attend the unveiling of a Holy Quran manuscript dating back to the Timurid period (1370–1507). The book will be on view until the end of the book week on Friday.

Groups of culture aficionados will visit the library in nine tours, and dozens of workshops, exhibitions and book review sessions will be organized.

The library also plans to honor several top librarians and reading promoters.   

Photo: A file photo shows bookworms visiting a Shiraz branch of Bookland, an Iranian book chain.

MMS/YAW