TEHRAN -- Author Majid Qeisari believes that war is an incident that affects the whole community and is a genre which should be more widely embraced by writers.

“War is a shattering experience and any nation that has experienced war has ensured that it has been reflected in its literature,” he told Mehr News Agency.
He stressed the need for young writers to patiently create literary works focusing on the Iran-Iraq war with the realization that the events that took place can never be undone.
“We must not only talk, we must act. If we work hard and produce literary works, we can make an impression. But sometimes we only speak and take no action.
“All over the world, cinema and literature have made use of war events to create a distinctive genre. In order to find out whether our literature of Sacred Defense (the term Sacred Defense applies to the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war) has been successful over the past years, we must wait for the future generation to reply.”
Qeisari continued, “As soon as the war began and located its soldiers and commanders, the literature of war found its writers. Though many writers entered into this field, the great masters of our literature are still missing.”
Qeisari disagreed with the idea that is held by some people, namely that only those who have experienced war first hand are qualified to write about it, and added, “I agree that, generally speaking, those who have been personally involved in a war are better equipped to write works on this theme, however this is not true for all authors.
He went on to say that the Iran-Iraq war and its impact are facts that can never be destroyed, “There exists a wealth of authentic documentation concerning the war, the reality of which can never be denied. The fact is that every one must be free to express their viewpoint and contribute to our war literature. We must also accept that the younger generation has its own original perspective.”
“The most imperative factor is that any gifted individual should take the first step and start writing. I think we must provide support for newcomers in this field and increase our tolerance so that every one feels free to create Sacred Defense literary works,” he concluded.