TEHRAN – “Fascinating Grief” and “A Man Named Reza Who Was Then Called Reza Khan” shared the Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award in the documentation category on Tuesday as no other books qualified as winners in other sections.

Written by Meisam Amiri, “Fascinating Grief” gives a comprehensive account of what happened during Lieutenant-General Qassem Soleimani’s funeral procession across Iran in 2020.   

“A Man Named Reza Who Was Then Called Reza Khan”, a biography of Reza Shah by Hedayatollah Behbudi, is a highlight of this section

The book recounts the life story of Reza Shah, the first monarch of the Pahlavi dynasty from his birth in 1878 until 1921 when he was selected as the commander of the Iranian Army in the new government after the 1921 coup.

Earlier last December, this book was honored in the History Narration category at the 2nd edition of the Seyyed Ali Andarzgu Literary Awards, which are given to books on the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The awards ceremony of the 14th edition of the Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Awards took place at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall.

Juries in other sections only gave some books honorable mentions. 

“Without Father’s Name” by Seyyed Meisam Musavian and “Sad Moon, Red Moon” by Reza Julai won honorable mentions in the novel category.

Published by Jamkaran, “Without Father’s Name” tells a story about a corrupt general who is an English agent in the Shah’s regime. He is sent on a mission to suppress separatist Kurds in the northwest of Iran. Meanwhile, he falls in love with a Kurdish girl.

The novel shared the award in the Adult Story section at the 19th edition of the Golden Pen Awards in 2021. 

In “Sad Moon, Red Moon”, Julai novelizes the last five days of the life of Sayed Mohammad Reza Kordestani, an Iranian political writer and poet who used the nom de plume Mirzadeh Eshghi.

“Unhappy Hour” by Mohammad-Esmaeil Hajalian and “Mad Saint” by Ahmadreza Amiri-Samani received honorable mentions in the short story collections competition.

“Albert Camus in Iran” co-written by Mohammadreza Farsian and Fatemeh Qaderi also won an honorable mention in the literary review category.

The Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Awards is Iran’s most lucrative literary prizes and winners each receive from one billion rials (Over $3,650 based on Iran’s free-market exchange rate: $1 = 272,730 rials) to 1.5 billion rials (about $5,500).

Photo: A combination photo shows copies of the winning books “Fascinating Grief” and “A Man Named Reza Who Was Then Called Reza Khan” at the Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award.

MMS/YAW