CEO Describes Iran’s Book House Plans

CEO of Iran’s Book House institute (IBHI) Niknam Hosseinipour described the objectives and plans of the institute stressing that it has new plans to back local authors and translators According to correspondent, at a program in Channel 4 of Iran’s state-run TV (IRIB), Hosseinipour said that book is one of the ancient cultural commodities with a special status in the history of Iranian land. He referred to the changes made to the strategies Iran›s Culture Ministry: “In the past years, politics dominated over culture in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, but from four years ago when Sayyed Abbas Salehi began to manage the Deputy Culture Ministry, the trend has changed and currently with him at the helm of this ministry, priority is given to culture.” Hosseinipour then elaborated on the activities and functions of Iran›s Book House Institute: “Founded in 1993, IBHI was primarily launched to provide a data bank of Iranian publishing industry. Collecting the relevant information extended the range of activities carried out by the institute such as: Holding the two significant events: Iran’s Book of the Year Award and Iran’s Book of the Year World Award. Moreover, holding Iran›s Book of the Season Award ceremony, the Week of the Book of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Founding Iran’s Book News Agency (IBNA), publishing the ‘Book of the Week’ journal as well as the Book Review Quarterly, holding special meetings at the House of Literati, and paying tribute to the Persian language literati are among the other measures taken by IBHI.
“However, despite all these achievements and regarding the fact that IBHI is at its height, we believe that the entity is still has a distance from the ideal,” According to Hosseinipour, the Book House has rendered reconciliation between Iranian cultural elites and the government; “the efforts made by Iran’s Book House should be taken as a role model for the new generation of our country. Nowadays perhaps Iran is known throughout the world for its huge deposits of oil and gas, but we always say that all the land is the land of [the legendary literati] such as Hafez and Sa’di,” he said. Elsewhere in his remarks, CEO of the Book House suggested: “Regarding the fact that our young generation is more focused on smart phones, the cultural officials and activists should also focus on producing software containing the information provided by our Institute and other data about the Iranian publishing industry.