“Siagalesh” by Ebrahim Akbari, “Faces of Silence” by Mohammad Qaemkhani, “Sur” by Hossein-Ali Jafari and “Azrael: Veteran” by Nima Akbarkhani are competing in the novel category.

A jury comprising Rahim Makhdumi, Mohammadreza Sharafi and KhabushaMeisam Musavian selected the nominees for this section.

“Siagalesh” follows an Islamic seminary student named Yusef Rostami who is assigned the task of organizing Muharram mourning rituals in a village in the Talesh region in northern Iran.    

In this novel, the writer describes Siagalesh, the legendary guardian of forest animals in the region.

In his novel “Faces of Silence”, Qaemkhani centers on the differences arising from land, books and race in the history of Judaism.  

“Sur” illustrates connections between Quds and Karbala by recounting the story of an old Palestinian man who attends an Arbaeen gathering. The novel also provides a deep insight into the condition of the Islamic world between the lines due to the turbulent history of Palestine.  

In “Azrael: Veteran”, Major Hamidreza Hedayati is tracking the enigmatic murderer Ali Alizadeh on a mission from Tehran to Nicosia in Cypress.

The award worth 2.5 billion rials (about $6,250 based on Iran’s free-market exchange rate: $1 = 400,000 rials) is Iran’s most lucrative literary prize.

Winners of honorable mentions each will be awarded 500 million rials.

Finalists in the short story section are “The President’s Driver and Several Other Stories” by Salman Kadivar, “The Unmarked Grave and Several Other Stories” by Emad Ebadi and “Lover Virus” by Majid Rahmani.

The nominees in this category were selected by a jury composed of Hadi Khorshahian, Yusef Qojaq and Mohammad-Ali Rokni.

Five books are competing for the award in the documentation category. The nominees have been picked by Behnaz Zarrabizadeh, Mehdi Kamus and Gol-Ali Babai. 

The books are “This Is Syria: Women Are Talking about the War” by Zohreh Yazdanpanah, “Autumn Arrived” by Golestan Jafarian, “Poltical Organization of the Baha'i Faith” by Hamidreza Esmaeili, “Aqeela” by Elham Amin and “The Battle of the Straits” by Mostafa Rahimi.

A jury comprising Abolfazl Horri, Mahmud Bashiri and Javad Kamvar-Bakhshayesh chose the nominees in the literary review category.
  
The nominees are “Watching Narrative: Analytical Study of the Method to Transform Story Elements from Narration to Drama” by Majid Aqai, “Literary Self-Criticism: A Treatise in Self-Criticism in Literary Studies” by Mehrdad Nosrati and “An Introduction to Comparative Literature: Origins, Theoretical Principles, Challenges” by Mansur Pirani.

The Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Awards will be held at Vahdat Hall on January 14.

Photo: A poster for the Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Awards.