This Weblog Is Being Turned Over: A Literary Novel from Iran for Young People

by Farhad Hasanzadeh, Constance Bobroff (Translator)

A 16-year-old girl, Dorna, resident of the city of Abadan, Iran comes upon an old notebook. In it, she reads the story of how the War separated Mr. Ẕal from his boyhood crush all those years ago. She decides to post the story in installments on her blog. But this will not be just another cliché Iran-Iraq War story. Dorna is determined to make this weblog something altogether new. Unwilling to cave in to the demands of her blog-followers to hurry and skip to the end, she revels in the storytelling, allowing the past to catch up to the present. Meanwhile, the reader is treated to a behind-the-scenes adventure in the translation process with glimpses at issues concerning Persian language and literature in the digital realm.
Written by a prize-winning author, the original book went into three printings in Iran. Ages 15 and up.

275 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 23, 2018

About the author

I was born in a low-income family in Abadan, 1962.
My childhood and youth passed smoothly; I was absorbed in playing with friends, little discoveries, and theater. Participating in theater classes opened a new door to me. My first writing was a play in the performance of which I myself acted. Little by little I got interested in writing stories and poems. I felt I could speak out this way.
But the outburst of the war between Iran and Iraq changed everything all of a sudden. I witnessed war’s destroying strokes for one whole month. I lost many friends, too. My family and I had to leave our hometown. The eight-year war changed my life entirely.
From 18 years of age to 24 I did different jobs to help my father keeping the family up. Here is a list of them: photography, repairing bicycles , laboring in a textile factory, construction electric work, forging, masonry, street vending and working in a confectionary.
Meanwhile I wrote stories and poems. But, it was not possible to get books published because of the war.
Getting married made my life stable. And my life found a distinct direction when I decided to write the stories I made up for my little son for all children.
Since then I have been writing stories and poems for children and young adults (80 books.) I have also been continuously active in different domains regarding children and young adults’ literature.
I have received 30 national awards for my works, and have been selected as a candidate for the 2017 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
I am lucky to constantly meet with children and young people in book criticism sessions at schools and libraries all around Iran. And am also very happy to work with Iran’s most widely circulated newspaper for young adults. I am one of the founders of the ‘Iranian Association of Writers for Children and Youth.’

Taken from Hasanzadeh's official website: https://farhadhasanzadeh.com/en/about...