The eleventh issue of ‘Nowpa’ Literary Magazine has been published

According to the correspondent of Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), this issue of “Nowpa” magazine features Abbas Milani’s article on his debate with Manouchehr Safa and Najaf Daryabandari in Ketab Agah magazine. Sirus Alinejad, the former editor of “Adineh” magazine, writes about the days when Mohammad Reza Batini’s three articles criticizing Abolhassan Najafi’s book “Don’t Write Wrong” were published, and Iraj Parsinejad recalls the debate between Fatemeh Sayyah and Ahmad Kasravi. Nasser Fakouhi also comprehensively examines literary debates from an anthropological perspective, and at the end, a part of the translator’s preface from the second edition of Raymond Aron’s memoirs, translated by Abdolhossein Nikgohar, which refers to the debate between Sartre and Aron, is included.

Mojtaba Nariman, the editor-in-chief and managing director of the magazine, in his editorial titled “Pen Debates!”, briefly touches upon some literary debates in the history of Iranian literature and explores several examples.

The reprint section of the magazine, which brings back an old article or speech in each issue, includes the text of Bahram Beyzaie’s speech titled “The Dispute Began with the Name of Shahnameh Itself” about Shahrokh Meskoub, which is not unrelated to the current issue’s theme.

In the Persian fiction section, curated by Kaveh Fouladinasab, 10 stories by 10 young writers are featured, along with reviews and notes from 10 critics on these stories. These include “Mirror Holder” by Mitra Moeini (with a note by Kaveh Fouladinasab), “Safe Sunless Shore” by Afra Jamshidi (note by Mohammad Reza Ayubi), “Ninety-Degree Hamlet” by Naseh Kamgari (note by Negar Qalandar), “Incinerator” by Saman Sabbaghpour (note by Elaheh Khodabakhshi), “I Killed My Father!” by Roya Shahram (note by Bahareh Arshadiyahi), “Molten” by Maliheh Seifabadi (note by Zahra Alipour), “Friday” by Azadeh Salimi (note by Babak Tayebi), “Maharloo Lake” by Fataneh Firouzi (note by Narges Mosavat), “Wolf Cub” by Reyhaneh Alavian (note by Amirhossein Sharabiani), and “Collective Dolphin Suicide” by Azadeh Kaffashi (note by Pejand Soleimani).

The translation section, curated by Asadollah Amraei, features four translations of four short stories: “The Tent” by Margaret Atwood (translated by Armin Darabinazhad), “My Three-Cornered Poverty” by Haruki Murakami (translated by Alireza Saebi), “The Girl’s Death Omen” by Lindsay Crowell (translated by Adel Jannatian), and “Distant Music” by Ann Beattie (translated by Reza Salehi and Kiarash Alizadeh).

In the “King of Letters” section, curated by Arman Fateh, similar to previous issues, short notes and introductions of books about Shahnameh for young enthusiasts are provided. These include “The Madness of the Divs” by Arman Fateh and “The Dance of History on the Land of Myth; A Reflection on the Characterization of Cyrus the Great” by Abolfazl Mohebbi.

The “Myths and Mythologies” section also includes articles on mythology, such as “Was Zahhak Jewish?” by Radman Rasouli Mehrbani and an introduction to the book “Divan Div and Shamanism in Iranian History and Myths” by Farima Dastyar.

This issue, for the first time, introduces a play section with a translation by Dariush Modabian of a play by Claude Santelli titled “Two-Bed Room”. Additionally, the articles and reviews section, besides introducing 15 newly published books, includes two articles: “Contemporary Apocalyptic Literature Master” by Habibollah Abbasi and “About ‘The Chronicler’, a Fake Continuation of My Uncle Napoleon” by Mehdi Ganjavi.

The 11th issue of Nowpa Literary Magazine, special for autumn 2025 (1404 Persian calendar), with a new look in quarto size and 304 pages, has been released to bookstores at a price of 500,000 Tomans.