Ali Asghar Seidabadi
Writer- Journalist
Ali Asghar Seidabadi the writer, book promotion activist, and researcher on Iranian children’s literature, was born in 1971 to a farmer family.
He was passing his second year in school when the Iranian revolution happened and after three years a war break out between Iran and Iraq with heavy shadows on the entire life, games and dreams of every child.
He could study in the village just for five years and had to move to the historic city of Neishabur to continue in a special school. The boarding school was beside to the tomb of Omar Khayyam the Persian poet, astronomer and mathematician. Ali had the chance to sit in a classroom with windows open to Khayyam’s garden.
As a teenager, Ali was elected as manager of the public library of the village with creative ideas that were awarded as the selected librarian in the region.
In university entrance exams, he was accepted for journalism and migrated to Tehran where he could find and attend many literary circles.
From the very first year, he worked with student publication journals and unions and found his way to national reformist papers were he was the editor of cultural columns and member of editorial boards of reformist papers. He started writing his ideas on book promotion in these newspapers.
When he was 25, Ali published his first book for children. He continued to write and published gradually and has about 60 books in his profile. Some of these books are theoretical and field guides for book promotion.
In early 2000s, together with a number of friend, he formed a literary and reading circle where more contemporary ideas for reading promotion were discussed. The basic idea of Flying Turtle List was introduced in these sessions.
A few year later, Seidabadi and friends founded a different bookstore, “Agar (If) Book Club” based on book promotion campaigns in social media of the time. Some his plans were launched by different public and private organization.
He suggested a charity organization to run a contest for book evaluation by orphan children living in dormitories.
In 2014 he introduced the aspiring idea of running national reading clubs. He managed to orchestrate a number of different and heterogeneous organization at both public and private levels, including a number of writers for children and a variety of non-governmental organizations. The first Cup of Reading Clubs was run for 15 cities and the second Cup for with 80 cities with about 5000 registered Reading Clubs and more than 70000 members in the entire country. For the third round, to start in October 2018, more than 433 cities and 1304 villages have volunteered to participate.
Activities:
۲۰۱۸ Designing ‘Cultural and Artistic Paths’ in Iranian cities, and aiding creating the first site as such in Yazd
۲۰۱۸ Planning and establishing Bibliophile Villages and Nomads Network
۲۰۱۷ Planning and establishing Book Reading Promotion Groups Network with the presence of active teams for developing book reading in Iran Planning and establishing Bibliophile Cities Network
۲۰۱۷ Setting up Flying Turtle Book Reading Club
۲۰۱۶ Planning and making writers tours to various cities across the country to attend schools and bookstores and to meet with children and youth and make book signing event with the aid of Iran Book House and the Iranian Association of Writers for Children and Young Adults
۲۰۱۵ Founding the magazine Flying Turtle to help introduce books and other cultural products to families
۲۰۱۵ to date Planning and running Cup of Reading Clubs for Children and Young Adults
۲۰۱۵ to date Running workshops on the advantages of reading for the city council members and mayors in nine cities across the country
۲۰۱۴ to date Running children and young adults’ books workshops
۲۰۱۴ to date Planning and running Appreciating Reading Promoters Festival (whose running responsibilities were transferred to a body of former nominees and winners since the second round)
۲۰۱۴ to date Planning and carrying out annually the idea of Designation of Iranian Book Capital
۲۰۱۴ to date Planning and carrying out the Festival for Villages and Nomads in Iran
۲۰۱۳ to date Setting up annual gold and silver Turtle Awards for the best books of the year
۲۰۱۲-۱۴ Lead proofreader for the publications Chekkeh and Qalam City
۲۰۱۲ to date Editor-in-chief of Research Journal of Children and Youth Literature and taking approaches to develop book reading
۲۰۱۲ to date Founding the seasonal list for the festival ‘Flying Turtle’ and its book signing ceremonies with 50 writers present at each seasonal event together with 15 experts in and writers for Iranian children and youth literature
۲۰۱۱ to date Planning ‘Mehr (Love) Awards’ among charity shelters across Tehran with its referees elected from their native and non-native residents to promote reading books there.
۲۰۱۰-۲۰۱۲ Running the independent bookstore Agar Book Club
۲۰۰۹-۲۰۱۱ Establishing ‘Marker’, a column introducing a book everyday on the newspaper Etemad-e Melli
۲۰۰۹ Member of editorial board of the newspaper New Yasamine
۲۰۰۵-۲۰۱۱ Secretary to the series Iranian Culture and Civilization (Ofogh publication)
۲۰۰۵-۲۰۰۹ Secretary of the culture, history and thought panel of the newspaper Etemad-e Melli
۲۰۰۳ Cooperation in establishing the first round of Home Library Festival at the Iranian Association of Writers for Children and Young Adults
۲۰۰۳ Cooperation with the Center of Dialogue Among Civilizations in holding cultural events about children and youth issues and publishing the due journal
۲۰۰۳-۲۰۰۵ Cooperation with Tehran International Book Fair as the director of juvenile sideline activities venue
۲۰۰۲-۲۰۰۶ Secretary of the editorial board of the Research Journal of Children and Youth Literature
۲۰۰۱-۲۰۰۶ Secretary of the cultural board of the newspapers Nowruz, New Yasmine, Vaghaye Etefaghyeh, Eqbal, Iran, and supervising columns in them all
۲۰۰۱-۲۰۰۵ Secretary to series of The Story of Iranian Thought(Ofogh publication)
۲۰۰۱-۲۰۰۵ Cooperation with the publishers Ofogh and Elmi Farhangi as their secretary and expert
۲۰۰۱-۲۰۰۵ Secretary to series of The Story of Iranian Thought(Ofogh publication)
۲۰۰۱ Secretary of the festival Two Decades of Best Iranian Children and Youth Books
۱۹۹۸ Cooperation in holding the International Biennale of Children and Youths Book Artists, and editor-in-chief for the special magazine on this event
۱۹۹۹ Cooperation in establishing Iranian Association of Writers for Children and Young Adults
۱۹۹۹-۲۰۰۳ Among the board of directors, and secretary of the Iranian Association of Writers for Children and Young Adults
۱۹۹۷-۲۰۰۲ Member of editorial board for Research Journal of Children and Young Adults Literature and writing articles about books for children and youth
۱۹۹۷ Cooperation with Aftab Gardan [“Sunflower”], the only Iranian newspaper for children and young adults of the time
۱۹۹۶ Education administrator of The Young Journalists Club
۱۹۹۶-۹۷ Member of the editorial board of the weekly journal Khaneh
۱۹۹۳-۹۶ Manager of an Iranian adolescents’ journal of Omid-e Ayandeh [“Future Hope”]
۱۹۹۱-۹۵ Member and head of the faculty’s literature society
۱۹۸۸ to date Making and publishing poems at various magazines
۱۹۸۶-۸۹ Honorary journalist for children and young adults’ magazines
۱۹۸۵-۸۹ Manager of the library at the village Seidabad (his birth place)
۱۹۹۸ to date Writing columns for Iran, a popular reformist newspaper
Awards:
(Domestic)
۲۰۱۸ Elected as the best writer about rewriting picture books – Shiraz University Center of Children Literature Studies
۲۰۱۸ Introduced as the Best Reading Books Promoter at the 100-Afarin (Bravo!) Festival
۲۰۱۳ Awarded as the best picture book – for children by IIDCYA Festival for the series Tales of Ringing-Bell Goat
۲۰۱۰ Year Book of the Children’s Book Council – for The Throneless Prince of the Underground
۲۰۰۹ Green Cypress award for the reproduction of Iranian legends – for the series The Sweet Rich Stories
۲۰۰۹ Best Book award in Better Book Festival by the Cultural Society of Children and Youth Publishers – for the series The Sweet Rich Stories
۲۰۰۷ Year book of Children’s Book Council in non-fiction literature – for the series The Story of Iranian Thought
۲۰۰۷ Year book of Children’s Book Council in poetry – for the book Surefire Balloons
۲۰۰۵ Best Book award in festival of Educational Books of the Ministry of Education – for the book Mulla Sadra
۲۰۰۵ Awarded as the best Children and Youth Literature critic at Iran’s Criticism Festival
۲۰۰۳ Achieving the 2ndaward in the Year’s Cultural Research by Iranian Cultural Research Festival
۲۰۰۳ Awarded for the best Theoretical Article at Children and Youth Press Festival
۲۰۰۳ Ranked 1st in Best Article at The Book Journalism
۲۰۰۲ Ranked 2nd in Best Article at The Press Festival
۲۰۰۰ Ranked 1st for Children and Youth Journalism at The Press Festival
۱۹۹۶ Best Interview from The Young Journalists Club(The Association of Iranian Journalists)
۱۹۸۷ Best village librarian in Nishapur (when teenager)
(international)
۲۰۱۷ Nominated at the Chinese Little Hakka International Picture Book Competition – for Bijan and Manije
۲۰۱۳ Recorded in the International Calendar of Poetry in English and German
۲۰۱۰ Nominated among of the best fifteen children books by the German Klingspor-Museum in Offenbach – for the book Demons Are Afraid of Humans in the Daytime.
۱۹۹۹ Recorded in Munich’s International Youth Library catalogue of ‘The White Ravens’ – for The Sweet Rich Stories
Bibliography:
Translated Works
Some of Seidabadi’s works are translated and published in a variety of languages including English, Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, and Thai languages:
English
A Rainbow in My Pocket, Illustrator: Hoda Haddadi, London: Tiny Owl publishing.
BiJan & Manijeh, Illustrator: Marjan Vafaiian, London: Tiny Owl publishing.
Arabic
Teacher and Painter, Lebanon: Arabic Scientific Publishers Inc. (http://www.asp.com.lb/books/bookpage.aspx?id=208106-190030)
Demons are afraid of human during the days, Palestine: Tamer Institute for Community Education. (www.tamerinst.org)
Turkish
Öğretmen ve Ressam (Teacher and Painter), Turkey: METU Development Foundation Publishing.
(https://www.kitapambari.com/odtu-gelistirme-vakfi-yayincilik)
Taçsız ve Tahtsız Prens (Thronless Prince of the Underground) Turkey: Demavend Yayınları
Thai
嘉莎爾的畫：要對自己有信心 (Teacher and Painter), Taiwan: Fibao Culture
Kurdish
Democracy: In a conversation with Ramin Jahanbegloo, Saqez: Goutar Publications
Citizenship: In a conversation with Ramin Jahanbegloo, Saqez: Goutar Publications
Dialogue: In a conversation with Saeed Hanayi Kashani, Saqez: Goutar Publications
Promoting Book Reading
Setting Up Reading Clubs for Children and Youth(Tehran: Iran Book House, 2017)
Why Should Children Read Books? (Tehran: Iran Book House, 2017)
Methods of Reading Books Promotion (Tehran: Iran Book House, 2017)
Children and Youth Literature and its Evaluation (Tehran: Iran Book House, 2017)
Theoretical – Research
An Introduction to Children Books Audience Recognition: Indirect Book Reading (Tehran: IIDCYA, 2012)
Beyond Traditional Audience Recognition (Tehran: Cultures, 2005)
Poetry in the Margin: A Study of Children and Young Adults Poetry (Tehran: Vizhe Nashr, 2001)
Novels
Carpet-Moustache Grandpa (Tehran: Ofogh, 2013)
The Throneless Prince of the Underground (Tehran: Cheshmeh, 2010)
White Butterflies and Colorful Windows (Tehran: Qatreh, 2012)
Picture Books
The Boy Who Talked to a Cheetah. Illus. Masoumeh Etebarzadeh. (Tehran: Shahre Ghalam, 2018)
Deer’s Eye (from Four-Season Books series). Illus. Elahe Behin. (Tehran: Share Ghalam, 2018)
The Leopard and the Spotted (from Four-Season Books series). Illus. Elahe Behin. (Tehran: Share Ghalam, 2018)
The Bear and the Beast (from Four-Season Books series). Illus. Elahe Behin. (Tehran: Share Ghalam, 2018)
The Lost Zebra (from Four-Season Books series). Illus. Elahe Behin. (Tehran: Share Ghalam, 2018)
The Giant Elephant and the Tiny Rabbit (from Baby Teach series). Illus. Mahdieh Safainia. (Tehran: Share Ghalam, 2017)
The Baby Zebra and its Mother (from Baby Teach series). Illus. Mahdieh Safainia. (Tehran: Share Ghalam, 2017)
Kites and the Deer (from Baby Teach series). Illus. Mahdieh Safainia. (Tehran: Share Ghalam, 2017)
One Shark and Five Fish (from Baby Teachseries). Illus. Mahdieh Safainia. (Tehran: Share Ghalam, 2017)
The Horse-Two-Footed Bicycle. Illus. Atieh Bozorg Sohrabi. (Tehran: Elmi Farhangi, 2016)
Demons Are Afraid of Humans in the Daytime. Illus. Peyman Rahimizadeh. (Tehran: Shabaviz, 2006)
What Is Your Name, Little Girl? Illus. Negin Ehtesabian. (Tehran: Shabaviz, 2006)
The Teacher and the Painter. Illus. Alireza Goldouzian (Tehran: Shabaviz, 2003)
Masoumeh. Illus. Nasim Azadi. (Tehran: Shabaviz, 2002)
When Grandfather Comes. Illus. Ali Amehkan. (Tehran: Ketab Jomeh, 2001)
Poetry
A Rainbow in My Pocket. Illus. Hoda Hadadi. Trans. Azita Rassi. (London: Tiny Owl, 2016)
The Moon Riding with Pillion on a Bike (from the 5-volume series, An Anthology of Persian Poetry: From the Beginning to the Present). (Tehran: Saless, 2015)
Love You As Much As the Number of All Cherries. Illus. Atieh Bozorg Sohrabi. (Tehran: Chekkeh, 2014)
Play Cars (from Play Song series). Illus. Ilgar Rahimi. (Tehran: Chekkeh, 2011)
Play Sea (from Play Song series). Illus. Ilgar Rahimi. (Tehran: Chekkeh, 2011)
Play Home (from Play Song series). Illus. Ilgar Rahimi. (Tehran: Chekkeh, 2011)
Play Park (from Play Song series). Illus. Ilgar Rahimi. (Tehran: Chekkeh, 2011)
Play Tricycle (from Play Song series). Illus. Ilgar Rahimi. (Tehran: Chekkeh, 2011)
Who Invented the Crow? Illus. Hassan Amekan. (Tehran: Cheshmeh, 2010)