Shahrzadnews: On the eve of Iran’s 25th International Book Fair in Tehran, 163 writers and translators have sent an open letter to the country’s culture minister Sayed Mohammad Husseini, criticising his department’s policies. The government considers the works of many of the country’s leading poets and other writers to be ‘un-Islamic,’ and has banned them from attending the event.
The letter calls for an end to censorship and the lifting of bans on the works of various novelists. The signatories expressed deep misgivings about the state of publishing in Iran. “Events of recent months present an increasingly depressing picture of the situation facing publishers,” ran one section of the letter. “The activities of leading houses such as Nashre Cheshme and Salis have been suspended, and Cheshme has also been banned from exhibiting at the fair.”
The signatories asked the culture minister to “halt any further decrease in the number of books published in Iran, by adopting sensible policies. Lift restrictions on publishers, so that their writers can work without anxiety.”
