TEHRAN – Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance is mulling over publication of the Persian version of Mahmud Dowlatabadi’s acclaimed novel “The Colonel”, Deputy Culture Minister for Cultural Affairs Seyyed Abbas Salehi announced on Monday.
Cheshmeh, a Tehran-based publishing company, submitted the book to the Culture Ministry in 2008 to apply for permission to publish.
Former officials at the ministry refused to authorize publication, asking Dowlatabadi to make some modifications to the book, which is known in Persian as “The Downfall of the Colonel”. However, they declined to approve the book after it was revised.
“The Colonel” is about the life of an Iranian colonel who recalls his memories of families and friends in solitude.
The German version of the book, which was published by Haus in Germany in 2009, received Switzerland’s Jan Michalski Prize last week.
The English version of the novel was among the finalists of the U.S. 2013 Best Translated Book Award in April 2013.
“I’ve read the book; I read all the books written by Dowlatabadi since I was a young man. He is the pride of Iran’s literature and the Khorasan region, so the publication of his book in Iran would be an honor for the country,” Salehi said.
Salehi stated that he respects the regulations governing the publication of books in Iran and added the book should not be exempted from regulations.
Born in 1940, short-story writer and novelist Dowlatabadi was the most prominent Iranian novelist of the 1980s. Self-educated and forced to work from childhood, he spent part of his younger adult years as a stage actor in Tehran.
“Kalidar”, “Desert Strata”, “The Trip”, “The Legend of Baba Sobhan”, “The Cowherd”, “Aqil”, “Man” and “Missing Soluch” are among Dowlatabadi’s credits.
SB/YAW
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