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TEHRAN – A number of literati and cultural officials gathered in the Iranian Artists Forum on Sunday to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the passing of the eminent author and translator Simin Daneshvar (1922-2012).
Daneshvar, known as the first Iranian female novelist, died at the age of 90 in March 2012.
Iranian Deputy Culture Minister for Cultural Affairs Abbas Salehi and critic Hossein Payandeh were among the participants in the event, the Persian service of ISNA reported on Monday.
Speaking at the ceremony, Salehi said that Iranian females have had influential roles in the history of Persian classic literature, and Simin Daneshvar had her impact on fiction.
“Simin grew up in an artistic family, she married and lived with (the controversial) author of the time, Jalal Al-e Ahmad. Of course, she never forgot her own identity, and despite many commonalities, she had her differences with him,” Salehi said.
The next speaker was Payandeh, who proposed to make a film based on Simini’s novel “Savushun” (1970), since he believes movies go farther than borders.
Payandeh also asked the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to prevent the republication of Simin’s first book entitled “Extinguished Fire”, a collection of short stories, the first-ever written by an Iranian female author.
He added that this request is based on Simin’s own personal will, since she believed the book is still immature, and she did not allow the book be republished while she was still alive.
Daneshvar is mostly known as the author of the social-historical novel “Savushun” (1970) which has been translated into 17 languages around the world.
In “Savushun”, Simin chronicles the life of a Persian family in Shiraz during the Allied occupation of Iran during World War II. The story is narrated through the eyes of Zari, a young wife and mother, who copes with her idealistic and uncompromising husband while struggling with her desire for traditional family life and her need for individual identity.
Born in Shiraz in 1921, Simin Daneshvar got her Ph.D. in Persian Language and Literature from the University of Tehran. At age of 27, she published her first book titled “Extinguished Fire.
“A City like Heaven”, “To Whom Shall I Say Hello?”, “Wandering Island” and “Wandering Cameleer” are among her other works. The last part of the trilogy “The Wandering Mountain” has not yet been published.
She also translated into Persian “The Chocolate Soldier” by George Bernard Shaw, “Enemies” by Anton Chekov, “Cry, The Beloved Country” by Alan Paton and “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
RM/YAW
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