TEHRAN -- Iranian scholar Iraj Zahri is compiling an encyclopedia of the world’s playwrights, the first volume of which will be published next week.

The first and second volumes of the book have been dedicated to German dramatists due to Zahri’s long sojourn in Germany and his activities as a theater critic, the Persian service of ISNA reported on Monday.

“The first volume focuses on 48 playwrights and 113 plays of Germany, studying the history of German theater from its beginnings to World War II,” Zahri said.

The second volume, which features 72 dramatists as well as 270 plays from World War II to 2006, is currently being proofed by Zahri.

The two volumes, which contain a total of 700 pages, will be published by the Qatreh Publishing Company.

“Because I plan to negotiate with scholars and students of various countries to complete the encyclopedia, the compilation of the entire collection will take at least 20 years,” he explained.

Zahri has published many articles on the history of Iranian theater in various journals.