TEHRAN – The Children’s Book Council of Iran has announced the country’s nominations for the 2024 IBBY-iRead Outstanding Reading Promoter Award. 

Iran-based Afghan book reading promoter Nader Musavi and Iranian book reading promoter and researcher of children's literature Ali-Asghar Seyyedabadi received the nomination for the prestigious award. 

As a foreign member of the Iranian Association of Writers for Children and Youth, Musavi seeks reading programs in Afghanistan.

The Children’s Book Council of Iran has previously nominated Musavi for the 2022 IBBY-iRead Outstanding Reading Promoter Award as well as the 2021 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, a prestigious Swedish honor to promote children’s and youths’ literature in the world. 

He received the nomination for over 22 years of intense, sustainable cultural activity for Afghan refugee children and academic research on educational plans for refugee children. He has also authored books promoting refugee children to maintain their connection with their homeland. He also travels across Iran every year to run reading programs in over 350 schools for Afghan migrant children.  

Seyyedabadi is an Iranian writer, reading promoter, and researcher in children's and young adult literature. Throughout his more than 35 years of work, in any position and with any title, he has always pursued reading as a social action and activity. He has strived to promote libraries as safe havens and voluntary reading as a means of resilience and resistance, especially in challenging social conditions.

The first book by Seyyedabadi for children was published in 1996. In the following years, he regularly focused on writing for children and young adults, and today about 70 books have been published by him. Some of his books are about theoretical topics in children's and young adult literature.

He transformed his individual activities in promoting reading into institutional and group activities about 20 years ago, which led to the establishment of some reading promotion institutions in Iran. He also implemented ambitious projects that had a significant impact on the expansion of reading throughout Iran.

In 2014, he started innovative initiatives to promote reading throughout Iran, which resulted in the formation of large-scale reading promotion movements involving non-governmental and civil institutions, government agencies, and public institutions in cities and villages across Iran. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these initiatives became one of the effective networks connecting children, young adults, and book promoters.

These activities engaged 180 cities and 1,400 villages in Iran, leading to the establishment of over 17,000 reading clubs in cities and villages, and 40,000 reading clubs in preschools throughout Iran.

The IBBY-iRead Outstanding Reading Promoter Award has been established by the Shenzhen iRead Foundation and IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) to encourage a real commitment to the cause of reading promotion in the hope of spreading this dedication to others around the globe.

Every two years, IBBY will invite nominations from IBBY National Sections that recognize outstanding individuals who are working to promote the expansion and development of children’s reading. 

The IBBY-iRead Award jury selects two winners. The two winners each receive 200,000 RMB Yuan and, in addition, 150,000 RMB Yuan is given to a non-profit children’s reading promotion project of their choice.

The Award aims to encourage further investment by individuals, organizations and governments in the promotion of children’s reading and will stimulate educational innovation, give much greater access to children’s books and an enhanced profile for children’s reading promotion – key tools in global, social, economic and cultural development. 

Photo: A combination photo shows the Children’s Book Council of Iran’s nominees Ali-Asghar Seyyedabadi and Nader Musavi for the 2024 IBBY-iRead Outstanding Reading Promoter Award 

ABU/