Debate on Novel Called Booklessness

Golestan Cultural Center in east Tehran will hold a meeting for critical appraisal of ‘Booklessness,’ a historical novel by Mohammadreza Sharafi-Khoboushan, which won the 10th Jalal Ale Ahmad Literary Award.

Storywriter and literary critic Mohammadreza Goudarzi and novelist Mohammad Hanif will attend the meeting and debate the book, Mehr News Agency reported.

The event is slated for Tuesday afternoon at the cultural center located at Helal-Ahmar Square, Narmak neighborhood.

Booklessness is a historical novel set in Tehran during the Qajar era.  Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, the fifth Qajar king (reigning from 1896 until his death in 1907) appoints Lesan od-Doleh in charge of the royal library. Under the watch of the royal librarian some 5,000 books are stolen and sold to foreign book dealers.

“It is a story about cultural looting,” Sharafi-Khoboushan says about his work. The historical account is mingled with the author’s imaginations and is told in today’s language.