By Syma Sayyah, Tehran
December (Azar) is a busy month in
Tehran with regards to cultural events. Among many events that took place, here
is a report from one ceremony that I attended.
Houshang Golshiri Annual Literary Award,
which is given by Golshiri Foundation, took place on December 19, 2003 at the wonderful
Niavaran Cultural Center. This prize, that have followed up since its launch
about four years ago, is becoming the most distinguished in comparison to other
such awards.
One of the most important aspects of
this particular literary award is that everything about it is transparent. In
the leaflets that is handed over to the guest and members of the public who
attend the ceremony, all the books and the process in which the jury chooses
them are clearly explained. This year, some 37 books, from those that were
printed in the pervious year, were considered in two major categories. These are
Novel category and Collection of Short Stories, both for first time writers and
those who had works printed before, in total of four categories.
For the first stage of the competition,
the books were chosen as follows. A long list of over 60 books was sent to men
and women of letter in Iran, along with a questionnaire in which they were asked
to mark the books. Furthermore,
they were asked if they have read and noted other books that should be included
in this list, and they were requested to include them with their mark for the
work and return it all to the foundation.
Once these forms were received, the books were ranked based on the marks
given by the respondents, many of them literary figures. In total 17 books went
to the second stage in four categories. Accordingly, the books were divided
among the four groups of judges. Three of the judges this year lived outside
Iran and two outside Tehran.
During the ceremony first Ms. Farzaneh,
head of the Golshiri Foundation, gave a speech in about the activities of
the foundation during the pervious year and the way the books were
selected. She also thanked the
foundation's supporters who had been listed in the pamphlets handed to the
audience. Next Mr. Sepanlou, the well-known poet and writer, read the official
Judges statement. Then the names of the finalist and their works in the
competition were read out. After that, one of the judges in each category came
up to the podium and read out the reason for their decision in awarding the
particular work; And finally a short passage from the book was read, and at
last, the winner's name was announced. Then the author came up and received the
award.
