Essay To mark the upcoming 2020 Neustadt Lit Fest and the announcement of the 2021 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature, here is an excerpt featuring the children’s and young adult books selection from 100 Essential Books by Iranian Writers, curated by past Neustadt Prize juror, and WLT contributor, Niloufar Talebi. To read the full introduction and list, visit AAWW’s The Margins, where it was first published. Two impulses led me to compile this list: to resist the forces that stifle the publication and distribution of literature created by Iranians and keep it off the world stage, and to celebrate the books that have reached readers of English. The idea for this list originally came about as I raised these questions to myself: What is this literature? What is (and is not) written and published inside Iran against pervasive state and self-censorship, cleverly reframed and filtered through tropes that elude the bureaucratic minefield and censors of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance? How and what can we, outside of Iran, with limited access, know of its diversity and aesthetic innovations? How do we overcome the barriers to international exchange? Are curators of the US book market willing to find ways to bring the creativity of literature in Iran to readers in translation? Outside of Iran, what has been projected onto us by biased and often commodified productions, presentations, and consumption of our... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-09-30 13:21:42 UTC ]