Words and multimedia by Armineh Sepahi
The 10th Tehran Without Censorship Book Fair was held in London on 10 and 11 October, giving Iranians and Persian speakers the opportunity to access books from independent publishers and works published without censorship.
The book fair brought together independent publishers, writers and people interested in books. Its aim was to introduce books that, in some cases, cannot be freely published in Iran because of publishing restrictions.
Azadeh Parsapour, founder of Nogaam Publishing and organiser of the book fair, explained in an interview that one of the main aims of the event was to give people access to uncensored books and support independent publishers.
She also invited Iranians, Afghans and other Persian speakers to visit the fair and learn more about different books and publishers.
Books on different subjects, including history, literature, politics and social issues, were available at the fair. Visitors also had the opportunity to speak directly with publishers.
Iqan Shahidi, a human rights researcher and PhD candidate in Intellectual History and Political Thought at Cambridge University, spoke about the importance of access to uncensored books for Iranians.
“I think it’s really important for us Iranians to have access to books without any censorship,” he said.
Shahidi also explained that the fair gave visitors the opportunity to meet publishers and talk to them about books, something that is not possible when buying books online.
He spoke about the importance of historical books in understanding Iranian identity and said that some books at the fair, including those about the Baha’i faith and other religious minorities, are not easily available in Iran.
Mojgan Ilanlou, an Iranian documentary filmmaker, filmmaker and writer, was another person interviewed at the fair. She spoke about her book, “Second Breath; Suddenly I Called Prison Home”, which is based on her personal memories and experiences of arrest and prison during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.
Ilanlou explained that in this book, she tried to record her experiences in prison and show a human and female perspective on prison life and the conditions during that time.
The 10th Tehran Without Censorship Book Fair ended on Sunday, 11 October. As well as introducing and selling books, the event gave visitors the opportunity to discover stories and views that face publishing restrictions in Iran.
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