Hello, this is Parastoo Souezi, and I’m thrilled to share with you a glimpse into my world of published prose. On this page, you’ll find a collection of stories that I’ve poured my heart and soul into. These narratives aren’t just words on paper; they’re a journey into the realms of creativity and education.
With a 5-year history in a small but experienced publishing house, I took my first step into a larger world. My first year in international and renowned Gaj Publishing started. It was no longer just about storytelling, illustration, color, and print quality. I had to think about creating a work that could be presented to international markets. A work bearing the Iranian signature but appealing to the tastes of non-Iranian children. The choice of story, the narrative style, illustration, and color selection, all became doubly important, and the only thing that helped me was research and observation. A path that could only be traversed with tangible presence and personal experience.
In 2015, I received an offer from the Iranian Cultural Representation to participate in the Buch Messe Wien (Vienna Book Fair). This exhibition took place just before the world’s largest international book fair, the Frankfurt Buch Messe. It was the best opportunity to start and experiment. With day and night efforts, I translated a 40-volume collection of Quranic stories for children into German, and on November 12, 2015, My Zanboor Publishing was born at a small booth at the Vienna Book Fair, stepping beyond the borders of Iran.
I spoke to all the visitors, especially children, and their feedback was very important to me because they were my primary audience. At the exhibition, I coincidentally got acquainted with foreign publishers who had published One Thousand and One Nights in the German language and had a very large audience. It sparked the idea of publishing classical Iranian literature with the potential for translation and entry into international markets.
The Vienna Book Fair was a small event, but it opened my eyes to a much larger world and was the beginning of learning the German language and the excitement of registering a publishing house in Germany, an excuse for entering the world’s largest publishing and cultural event.
With renewed vigor and energy, I returned to Iran and started researching ancient Iranian literature. Among all, I reached the Kalila and Dimna collection. A collection centered around the storytelling of animal fables, which is very exciting for children.
I knew many writers, but I had to choose the most skillful one. Someone who, before knowing the story, was familiar with children and their world, with all their imaginations and fantasies.
This was the beginning of my acquaintance and friendship with one of Iran’s best experts in children’s literature, Dr. Maryam Jalali, a member of the faculty at Shahid Beheshti University. Twelve stories from the Kalila and Dimna collection were selected, and Dr. Maryam Jalali began retelling and rewriting them.
The next challenge was illustration, the most critical factor for a book’s success in entering the global market. The book’s illustration for a child is everything they imagine in the children’s world. This time too, I had to keep the best by my side.
Rasool Ahmadi was the best, and I always believed in his art and meticulous view. Rasool Ahmadi has a very high understanding of color and light, and he conducts research to create every piece of art, whether big or small. He possesses sufficient knowledge about all the characteristics of his audience and creates an image that meets the necessary standards for presentation to his specific audience.
Illustrating one of the frames from the Kalila and Dimna stories won the illustration award at the exhibition in China.
CHINA SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S BOOK FARI – NOV 2016
I had no worries in the final stages of translation, which was no less professional than writing a book. My dear friend Nasim Nikokalam was a translator born in Germany and fluent in his mother tongue Farsi. He had a correct understanding of Persian literature and was the best choice for accurate and native German translation.
The final result for the first attempt was impeccable and professional, and despite the passage of time, it is one of the most popular works I have recorded in the field of publishing.
Where Imagination Knows No Bounds, and Every Stroke Tells a Tale.
1
Chaoyang D, BaliZhuang,
Beijing, China
+86 136 8334 4984