TEHRAN – “Maftun and Firuzeh”, a novel exploring the cultural activities of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, won the Golden Pen Award for best fiction on Sunday.

Written by Saeid Tashakkori, the novel chronicles the cultural activity of the Leader in Mashhad from 1977 to 1979.

The award-presentation ceremony of the 13th edition of the Golden Pen Awards, which is organized annually by Iran’s Pen Association, was held at Tehran’s Art Bureau.

Director of the bureau Mohsen Momeni-Sharif, Academy of Persian Language and Literature Director Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel and a number of writers attended the ceremony.

Other winners in the side categories were also honored at the ceremony.

“Paper Flowers” by Mohammad-Ali Godini was honored in the children and adults fiction category.

In the adults’ poetry section, “Wild Terms” by Hamed Hosseinkhani won the award, and “From the Results of the Down” by Mohammadreza Sangari was honored in the research and critic category.

No works deserved the Golden Pen for best children poetry. However “Wet Kiss” by Shokuh Qasemnia and “Pull the Cats’ Tails” by Tayyebeh Samani received honorable mentions in this section.

The ceremony was brought to an end honoring filmmaker Farajollah Salahshur with a lifetime achievement award for his Islamic productions.

Photo: Writer Saeid Tashakkori (R) receives a Golden Pen from Academy of Persian Language and Literature Director Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel for his novel “Maftun and Firuzeh” at the 13th edition of the Golden Pen Awards at Tehran’s Art Bureau on July 5, 2015. Some of the organizers are also seen in the photo. (ISNA/Abdolvahed Mirzazadeh)

RM/YAW
END