UK University to Introduce Dehqan’s ‘A Vital Killing’

A collection of short war stories ‘A Vital Killing’, by Iranian writer Ahmad Dehqan, will be introduced at a meeting in September at SOAS University of London in the UK, the only institution of higher education in Europe specializing in the study of Asia, Africa, the Near and Middle East.

The book is a highly acclaimed collection of Iranian short war stories from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war by war writer and essayist Dehqan, 50, who is best known for his book ‘Journey to Heading 270 Degrees.’

The English edition, rendered by American translator Caroline Croskery, was censored at the 20th edition of Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), held in August 2016.

The book was regarded “as being contradictory to the antiwar policy of BIBF” and removed from public display, “much to my deep chagrin,” Afshin Shahnetabar, director of Candle & Fog Publishing House in Tehran had then said.

But now Shahnetabar, whose publishing house has released the English edition of Dehqan’s work, said the upcoming event organized under the auspices of SOAS University and Candle & Fog, is to promote the book, Tasnim News Agency reported.

The meeting will be attended by both the writer as well as translator--Dehqan and Croskery-- respectively. American translator Paul Sprachman, 69, who rendered into English Dehqan’s earlier book ‘Journey to Heading 270 Degrees,’ will also participate, Shahnetabar said.

 “Since a majority of the English-speaking readers of Iranian books are from the academia, we’ve been holding meetings at various universities in several countries, inviting writers and critics from Iran and elsewhere. Such meetings contribute greatly to book discussion and publicity,” he said.

 Dehqan is one of the several writers who fought at the war fronts. The short stories included in ‘A Vital Killing,’ are fictional glimpses of the war, inspired by actual events.

The narratives are indulging of a veteran in reminiscence of his youth. The moving short story from which this collection derives its name is also the basis for ‘The Reward of Silence,’ a 2007 Iranian feature film directed by filmmaker Mazyar Miri, 44.