TEHRAN – A collection of ten books containing stories from classical Persian literature on the theme of Yalda Night was unveiled during a ceremony at Tehran’s Milad Tower on Wednesday evening. The longest night of the year, Yalda night is celebrated by Iranians at the end of the last day of autumn,
The stories have been selected from classical Persian literature for the collection entitled “Stories of Yalda Night”, Mohammad-Jafari Qanavati, the coordinator of the literati who simplified the stories, said during the ceremony.
“Don’t Say Goodbye and Meeting in Meadow”, “Malek Jamshid and the Spell of Crystal Bathroom”, “Reward of Love”, and “Secret of Kimia and Legend of the Sun and the Moon” are among the stories of the collection, which has been published by Vida Publications.
Speaking at the ceremony, Qanavati said that the collection also focuses on oral literature.
He also added that the writers of the stories have made efforts to choose those stories reflecting true Persian culture.
Scholar Hassan Zolfaqari was next to speak, emphasizing the need for studies on Persian oral literature.
He said, “Oral literature is not just for entertainment, it is life and is needed by mankind. If we concentrate on this part of literature, the different layers of ethnography, anthropology, and political and socials issues are quite clear.
“I appreciate this collection, and the writers’ approaches have helped us move one step ahead. Another salient point is the supervision by a coordinator to produce a more complete collection.”
A team of writers including Fars Baqeri, Fereshteh Ahmadi, Farhad Hassanzadeh, Behnaz Alipur, Mohammadreza Gudarzi and Rasul Abadian worked on this collection.
RM/YAW
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