- Shahrestanadab Publication
- Author: Mohammadreza Sharafi Khaboushan
About book:
Booklessness, [Bi Ketabi in Persian] by Mohammadreza Sharafi, published in 2017 by Shahrestan Adab Publishing House, and winner of the prestigious Book of the Year Award and Jalal al-Ahmad Prize, is the author's most important work. The action takes place in Persia during the last years of the Qajar dynasty that ruled the country from 1794 to 1925.
During the period of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran in the 1900s, the Imperial Librarian took advantage of the crisis to steal more than 5,000 valuable manuscripts that will be sold to private collectors including French and British. A true story, but little known even in Iran.
Through the stories of the manufacture of the valuable manuscripts and printed books, the author analyzes the life of those who are in search of culture. Contrary to all expectations, the 'guardians' are behind the theft of these manuscripts which constitute one of the essential cements of the Persian identity.
The looting of cultural treasures and the bombing of Parliament in June 1908 are two main themes of this novel.
About author:
Mohammadreza Sharafi Khaboushan, was born in 1979 in Shahre-Rey, south of Tehran, is an Iranian poet and writer. Before devoting himself entirely in writing novels, he began with poetry and published three collections of poems telling the lives of men surrounded by objects. As a poet, Khaboushan is more interested in human stories than dreams. After that, he published three novels, one for teenager and the others are for adults.