INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TEHRAN-- Narges Qandilzadeh has actually won the Abolhassan Najafi Award for the Persian translation of Lebanese author Elias Khourys
A jury consisting of Zia Movahed, Mahasti Bahreini, Abdollah Kowsari, Hossein Masumi Hamedani, Musa Asvar, Omid Tabibzadeh and Abtin Golkar
chose the winner of the 6th edition of the Abolhassan Najafi Award, which was announced at the Book City Institute last Tuesday.Drawing on
the stories Khoury collected from refugee camps throughout many years, the epic novel Gate of the Sun: Bab Al-Shams has been called the
very first magnum opus of the Palestinian saga.In this story, Yunes, an aging Palestinian freedom fighter, depends on a coma
Keeping vigil at the old mans bedside is his spiritual son, Khalil, who nurses Yunes, refusing to confess that his hero may never ever
Like a modern-day Scheherazade, Khalil relates the story of Palestinian exile while also remembering Yuness own remarkable life and his love
for his partner, whom he fulfills secretly over the years at Bab al-Shams, the Gate of the Sun.An English translation by Humphrey Davies
published in 2007 was chosen as a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year, one of Kansas City Stars 100 Noteworthy Books of the
Year, a Boldtype Notable Book of the Year, a Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Year and a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the
Year.The Abolhassan Najafi Award is a personal Iranian literary prize that is offered to a Persian translator of a novel or narrative
collection every year.The award was established in the name of Abolhassan Najafi (1930-2016), a linguist and translator of French
literature, by his family and the Book City Institute in 2016
This years winner was granted a plaque of honor and a prize money of one billion rials (over $2,100 based on Irans free-market exchange
rate: $1 = 470,000 rials)
Persian translations of American author Nathanael Wests 1939 unique The Day of the Locust by Farid Dabir-Moqaddam and American author
Carson McCullerss 1946 novel The Member of the Wedding by Hanieh Pedram were granted honorable discusses and cash prizes of 500 million
The Day of the Locust has to do with Hollywood and its corrupting touch and the American dream that developed into a sun-drenched
The Member of the Wedding is about a girls fascination with her brothers wedding.Twelve-year-old Frankie is absolutely, hopelessly tired
with life up until she hears about her older brothers wedding
Strengthened by lively conversations with her family housemaid, Berenice, and her six-year-old cousin-- not to mention her own unchecked
imagination-- Frankie takes on an excessively active function in the wedding event, hoping even to go, unwelcome, on the honeymoon, so deep
is her desire to be a member of something bigger, more accepting than herself.Photo: Left to right, translators Hanieh Pedram, Narges
Qandilzadeh and Farid Dabir-Moqaddam hold copies of their works honored by the Abolhassan Najafi Award at the Book City Institute in Tehran
