Iranian institute launches intl. short story competition on COVID-19
TEHRAN –(Iranart)- The Iran Book and Literature House has launched an international competition for short story writing on COVID-19.
In a call published on Saturday, the cultural center invited all people writing in Persian across the world to participate in this competition, which will be held on the theme of “The Story of Corona and Us”.
The organizers have also dedicated a special section for health workers. Only people working in hospitals and medical centers are allowed to compete in this section.
Winner will be selected from ten short stories shortlisted by a jury of writers and literary critics in the summer. Two other stories will be honored as runner-up and third place.
Five writers in the special section for health workers will be honored by the jury.
The Iran Book and Literature House plans to publish the finalists in a collection after announcing the winners.
Coronavirus has become the subject of several cultural contests in Iran since February 2020, when the first cases of the disease were detected in the country.
The Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults launched the International Clean Hands, Save Lives Painting Contest in March 2020.
In addition, a number of Iranian authors began writing stories on the virus to teach children and others how to take care of themselves during the pandemic.
One of the writers is Ali-Asghar Seidabadi, who wrote “Hannah, Our Hero”.
It is about several children including Hannah that go to visit their uncle, Bahman, who doesn’t know that he is infected with COVID-19. All the children are infected, but Hannah escapes uninfected due to her care about the tips for dealing with coronavirus.
The book was also translated into Croatian, Turkish, English, Italian, French and German.
Simaye Sharq Publications released a book series recounting educational stories for children on COVID-19 last October.
The collection was composed of the books “A Bride and Groom Wearing Face Masks” and “The Crow Did Not Reach Its House” by Zahra Musavi, “Take Care that Your Covij Doesn’t Become 19” by Nastaran Fathi and “Hand Washing” by Shahram Rafiei.
source: Tehran Times