Assadollah Shabani
Poet
Asadollah Shabani, poet and writer, was born in July 1958 in Hamedan.
He has a bachelor’s degree in Persian language and literature. After the Islamic Revolution in Iran, he started working for the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (Kanoon), one of the most important Iranian organizations for children’s and young adult literature. This started him on the path of writing for children. Training Kanoon’s teachers, working in the literary section of Kanoon magazines, being an expert in the Poetry Council and in charge of the Old Texts Council consist some of his activities in Kanoon in the past thirty years.
Because of his major, Shabani knows the literary heritage of Iran very well. He uses colloquial language in composing poetry for children since he believes that colloquial literature has the closest language to that of children.
Besides children’s poetry, Shabani has also been rewriting old texts for children and young adults as well as writing stories for children. Also, he has published a children’s magazine and founded a publishing company for children’s and young adult literature. Shabani has written books and articles about researching in children’s poetry. One such book of his is The Harvest of Children’s Poetry.
Selected Works:
The Last Free Bird (1993), Kanoon
Branches as Musical Instruments (1995), Kanoon
The Sweet Stories of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh (1996), Peydayesh Publishing Co.
Ortolan’s Song (1997), Farda Publishing Co.
Lullaby for My Dear Doll (2006), Behnashr (Parvaneh Books)
Our Earth, Our Heart (2007), Kanoon
Divine Glass Bubble Bowl 2009), Monadi Tarbiat Cultural Foundation
God, Gracious God (2009), Behnashr (Parvaneh Books)
Someone Passed by My Heart (2009), Touka Publishing Co.
You Say Then I’ll Say Series (2016), Khatkhati Publishing Co.
Selected Awards and Recognitions:
Poopak Magazine’s Best Book Award, Best Book Award from the Book Festival of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (Kanoon), Children’s Book Council’s Best Book Award,Superior Book Award in the Superior Book Festival held by the Cultural Society of Children’s Publishers