Iran’s Participation in the New Delhi World Book Fair 2017

1395/10/28-13:52

Hold in eight main halls from Jan. 7 to 15, the New Delhi World Book Fair 2017 consisted of different sections dedicated to general titles as well as commerce, technology, social sciences, e-books, children and young adults from both Indian and foreigner publishers. The international section, which was located in Hall 7, accommodated 756 publishers. Nineteen foreign countries participated in the event among which were Iran, UAE, France, China, Egypt, Germany, Spain, Nepal, Poland, Sri Lanka, and Japan. Last year, China was the Book Fair’s Guest of Honor. However, this year the event had no Guest of Honor.

The Fair is organized by National Book Trust, India, an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, working towards promotion of books and the habit of reading in the country.

Today Indian publishing stands poised at a significant crossroad towards the path of growth. NDWBF offers the participants a unique opportunity of doing business with this growing book industry. It is also an ideal venue for promoting titles, co-publication arrangements and trade. Besides the many literary and publishing conferences and programmes to be organized during the Fair, it also opens up a gateway to the publishing and intellectual world of South Asia. The Fair attracts participation from major publishing houses of the globe.

In addition to the Iran Cultural Fairs Institute (ICFI), the Cultural Attaché of the Islamic Republic of Iran in New Delhi attended the book fair in a separate stand. Organized by the ICFI on an area of 18 sq. m., Iran’s stand showcased a total of 340 titles in different subjects such as art, Iranian Studies, calligraphy, and children and young adults. 160 of the titles were related to the contemporary literature of Iran. Promotion of the Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF), presenting the Iranian publishing industry through showcasing sample books, introducing the children and young adults’ writers from Iran in a catalogue, and presentation of a separate catalogue of children and young adults’ books for right selling were among the activities of the Iranian stand.

To get a better picture of the Iranian publishing industry status a pamphlet titled “A glance  through the publishing industry of Iran” was presented to the interested visitors of the Iranian stand. Written in English, the pamphlet contained a brief introduction to Iranian book information centers, associations of publishers, as well as literary agencies.

Mostafa Rahmandoust, a children and young adults’ poet, was the Special Guest of the Iranian stand. In a meeting held in the margin of the book fair in the Persian Language Department of New Delhi University, Rahmandoust said, “Children and young adults’ literature in Iran has its roots in the folk speech of this country.” Then he presented an introduction of his own works declaring that in 298 titles, they have been published in 8,500,000 copies. He also

 He also introduced the Iranian Children National Library website. He said, “Thus far, more than 15,000 books in the area of Children and young adults have been uploaded to the website so that the researchers outside Iran have an easy access to the contents.” The poet considered a special position for the children’s books in learning the Persian Language as for their strong folkloric roots. In that meeting, Professor Alim Ashraf Khan, the Head of the Persian Language Department of New Delhi University, appreciated the presence of Rahmandoust and said, “His reputation is not bound within the interior of Iran and other countries like India have heard about his works.” He also indicated that, “In the past years, a number of native professors used to go to India to help the local professors refresh their knowledge. However, in recent years this policy has been abandoned and only the Indian professors are deployed to Iran.”

In his visit to the Iranian stand, Abiodun Omotubi, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Book Fair, officially invited our country to attend the 16th event of this book fair to be held in May.

Zakir Husain Delhi College invited Mostafa Rahmandoust to attend their classes in the beginning of the academic year of Persian Language and Literature.