Iranian Book News Agency (IBNA)

An affiliate to the nongovernmental, nonprofit Book House Institute, Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) officially began its mission on Nov. 14 2005 as the first and only news agency focusing on books. Specially trained journalists work in IBNA? various desks: Knowledge and Culture, Social and Political, Sacred Defense, Literature and Arts and Provinces. In IBNA, the news is released on topics like print and publication, religions, literature, the Islamic Revolution and the Sacred Defense, thought, knowledge and technology, society and politics, history and geography, children and teens and the literati profile.
Here, we will take a look at the activities performed in some of IBNA’s different divisions: Literature and Arts division Iranian Book News Agency’s “Literature and Arts” division covers the country’s entire bookrelated news in different categories within the field of Literature and Arts. The journalists active in this group generate book-related news in major categories of the field of Literature and Arts including stories from Iran and abroad, poetry, literary criticism, mythology and linguistics, visual arts, theatre, cinema and music, as well as news in the field of Children and Young Adults. The Literature and Arts division of IBNA has dedicated a subdivision to the group of “IBNA Young Adults” and their website. This subdivision covers the news on books intended for young adults, and is printed in color ink with a simplified language and a hearƞelt tone for a young adult audience so that if the young adults interested in reading are eager to learn more about the recent news on the publication status of books proper to their age, they can do so with an increased interest.

This group also makes considerable effort to cover the entire news in all other aspects of the publication industry such as the cultural awards and the controversial events of the day in literature and arts subjects, and to conduct series of interviews with experts in this field. International division: Iranian Book News Agency’s “International” division aims to cover foreign news and echo the major news on recent books and publications from across the globe. The group active in this division surveys the news available on the websites of reputable international news agencies and translates pieces of them from English, French, German, Arabic, etc. into Persian on a daily basis.
Several translators and journalists collaborate with this group from within and without the country. The Sacred Defense and The Islamic Revolution divisions Iranian Book News Agency’s divisions, “The Sacred Defense” and “The Islamic Revolution”, came into existence in January 2008 and purport to present the work of writers, publishers and activists active in the history and literature of the Sacred Defense.

Their main areas of work include news coverage on recent publications in this field, study and review conferences and meetings, interviews with critics, writers, poets and directors of public and private publishing houses active in the field of the Sacred Defense. The Sacred Defense division also covers, on a separate page, the news on recent publications about the events and the combats that led to the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
In additions to publishing news, IBNA offers updated reports, interviews and analyses of various foundations and organizations working in different publication fields. Book reviews are also published on ibna.ir on the latest market releases in Iran and, sometimes, the world. Currently IBNA releases its content in Persian, English, Arabic, Spanish, Turkish and Cyrillic, with a news output of about 80 pieces a day, IBNA has over 70 thousand daily visitors.