TEHRAN – French writer Jean-Claude Mourlevat won the golden prize at the Flying Turtle Awards, which are annually presented to top children’s writers in Iran. 

He received the prize for his “La Rivière à l’envers”.

“This award is presented to Jean-Claude Mourlevat for the efforts he has made in the story to create a different peaceful and human fantasy, a dialogue between the East and West, an active participation of the adolescents, as well as to make a call for peace and love in the cruel world,” the jury of the Flying Turtle Awards said in a statement read during the awards ceremony held the Book City Institute in Tehran on Saturday.  

Two Persian translations of “La Rivière à l’envers” by Navid Atar-Sharqi and Zohreh Nateqi have been published in Iran. Atar-Sharqi and Nateqi also received honorable mentions.

The story is set in a time when there were no telephones in a village. It is about Tomek, a 13-year-old orphan who runs the small grocery store in his village. One evening a young girl enters his shop and asks if he sells sugar made from barley. A sequence of events causes Tomek to begin an incredible journey that will lead him to an uncharted island where an amazing river flows upside down.

The organizers also presented three silver awards, one of which was given to “Un-Scary Stories” by Nazanin Ayegani. 

Another silver award went to “The Shadow of the Monster” by Abbas Jahangirian, and “Goody” by Samaneh Qasemi won the other one.  

In addition, writer Ali-Ashraf Darvishian and illustrator Nayyereh Taqavi were honored with the Flying Turtle Special Medals for their lifetime achievements.

The Book City Institute and the Children’s Literature Studies Periodical are the organizers of the Flying Turtle Awards event.

Photo: French writer Jean-Claude Mourlevat in an undated photo

MMS/YAW