Launch of ‘The Elephant’s Legend’, Freema Toloo’s First Novel, Held

According to the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), The launch ceremony for the book ‘The Elephant’s Legend’ was held on Friday evening, November 21st with the presence of Freema Toloo, Saleh Tasbihi, Niloufar Sadeghi, Semiramis Babaei, and Manouchehr Badiei at the Haft Eghlim Cultural Institute.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Niloufar Sadeghi provided a brief overview of the book’s content and structure, explaining its narrative style and atmosphere.

Then Saleh Tasbihi, book cover designer, spoke about the process of creating the cover design and said: This design was influenced by Federico Fellini’s film ‘8½’ as well as some ancient Persian texts. The choice of pink color on the book’s cover was inspired by a part of ‘The Elephant’s Legend’s narrative atmosphere.

In addition, Semiramis Babaei, translator of dramatic literature, spoke about the impact of the story’s atmospheres on the audience and highlighted the prominence of feminine elements in the narrative.

The final part of the program was dedicated to a speech and analysis by Manouchehr Badiei.

He explained: At first glance, I thought this work was a collection of short stories, but after a complete study of the book, I realized that ‘the lack of apparent connection between characters’ is part of the novel’s main theme, and this very disconnection of relationships invisibly links the characters to each other. The presence of a ‘dead elephant’ at the beginning of the book is the narrative’s fulcrum and the connecting link for characters who seemingly have no relationship with each other.

Referring to some parts of the book, he said: Only a female author can write with such precision and attention to detail about the relationships of couples and what goes on in homes.

At the end of the program, Niloufar Sadeghi, the session moderator, read a short excerpt from the novel aloud for the guests.

The ceremony was attended by several cinematic figures, including Majid Barzegar and Hamid Nematollah, film directors, Loghman Khaledi, documentary filmmaker, Masoud Amini Tirani, cinematographer and filmmaker, Taha Zaker, graphic designer and art director, Mohammad Reza Marashipour, Reza Rezaei, and Fahimeh Zahedi, translators, Farkhondeh Hajizadeh, author and publisher, Shahram Ashrafabianeh, author, filmmaker, critic, Mohammad Dehghani, author, translator, literary critic, Morteza Hashemipour, editor-in-chief of Fardan, Masoud Barbar, author, Peyman Mousavi, journalist, and Omid Panahi Azar, author and filmmaker.

Freema Toloo’s first authored work, published by Niloufar Publications in 127 pages, is currently available to enthusiasts.

Previously, she had translated the books ‘Face to Face with Ingmar Bergman’, ‘The Long Slope’, and ‘The Long Fall’.