TEHRAN -- The Children’s Book Council of Iran plans to nominate Hushang Moradi Kermani for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2014.
“He’s got a very profound outlook on Iran. He combines memories with the truth in a way that you cannot distinguish between them,” council member Nushafarin Ansari said during a ceremony held in Tehran on Monday to commemorate Moradi Kermani.
“His works have been translated into 20 other languages… The council has taken into notice his works since 1990,” she added.
“Due to the lack of good books, we have denied our children many pleasures,” she stated.
Ansari called on families to get their children to become members of a library in order to experience the pleasures of reading.
Moradi Kermani was also nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1992. In 1974, Iranian illustrator and graphic designer Farshid Mesqali won the award, which is considered the Nobel Prize for children’s literature.
Moradi Kermani, 68, is an eminent writer of books primarily for children and teenagers. However, his works also appeal to adults.
Several Iranian movies and TV-series have been based on his works. Kiumars Purahmad directed the TV series “The Stories of Majid” and Dariush Mehrjuii made “Mom’s Guest” -- both based on his novels of the same name.
His credits also include “Sweet Jam” and “Like the Full Moon”, “Cushion”, and “The Big Clay Jar”, most of which have been translated into English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Arabic, Armenian, Turkish and several other languages.
His “The Reservoir”, about several children who study in an Iranian traditional school, was published in 2011.
The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) in Switzerland presents the Hans Christian Andersen Awards biennially to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children’s literature.
The prize is named after the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen and winners receive a gold medal from the hand of the Queen of Denmark Margrethe II, who is the patron of the Andersen Awards.
MMS/YAW
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