"No outlooks were sketched for children's literature in 1390”
1 Apr 2012 10:17
Manager of Jamal publication institute believes that nothing big happened last year concerning children's literature. Children's books need at least 50 groundbreaking events to satisfy their tastes, he asserted.
IBNA: In an interview with IBNA, Alireza Sobhani Nasab spoke of his take about the status of children's publications last year. "Just a glance at bookshelves in the Iranian market indicates that the form and content of children's books have grown normally and nothing eye-catching has come to them."
Manager of Jamal Publications added that the Iranian society is in a dire need for children's books especially in religious grounds and the present publications cannot satisfy the need.
"In the recent years, some merchants, intellectuals and laymen have entered into the business of children's publications and each have damaged the business they own way," he stated elaborating on the losses of children's publications.
"Merchants hunt for bestselling titles," he explained, " Many intellectuals want to win awards and praises from western media and the more patriot ones are laymen in the field and often fail to produce good works due to lack of expertise in the field."
He went on to say that the absence of a solid copyright restriction in the country is another issue affecting children's releases. "A fraction of expenses is spent for illustrations in children's books, however, in Iran, because the copyright law is not observed, publishers tend to gain their illustrations from different international exhibitions like the Bologna book fair and publish their works with the least possible expenses."
He further stated that the emergence of new writers is another dangerous issue threatening children's literature. "Many publishers have proudly released works by writers younger than 15. The works are presented with attractive illustrations instilling a belief among publishers that books for children need not be rich in content which can do extensive damage to the genre."
"Nothing very special happened to the publication last year. Children's releases need at least 50 groundbreakers to change children's tastes," he added.
Most of the strong publishers work in Tehran and publish the Persian rendition of western encyclopedias gaining good income regardless of the differences between Iranian culture and the western one, he added.
A publisher of religious titles, Sobhani Nasab added books released for children need to be more religious than visually attractive.
He further expressed hope that the future releases in the new year will be based more on religion and will be more content-oriented.
