Writers in Prison Day: In Iran, the fight against cultural censorship stronger than ever
Portraits of writers, poets, and artists killed or detained in Iran in recent years.
© Nasim Vahabi
Text by: Louise Huet
7 mins
November 15 marks the World Day for Writers in Prison.
In Iran, while the Islamic regime has been trying to suppress protest movements for two months, authors, poets and comedians are also targeted for their work for freedom of expression.
With the hope of fighting against censorship, Iranian artists have taken on a responsibility: that of becoming the voice of their brothers and sisters reduced to silence.
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“
I'm tired of being afraid.
I've never been politicized before, but now I have a human duty as a writer.
I have to shout in their place
", asserts Nasim Vahabi, Iranian author residing in France since 1998. On the occasion of this day of writers in prison, Nasim has drawn up
a non-exhaustive document
which lists the names of authors, poets , journalists and bloggers murdered or currently imprisoned in Iran.
A photograph accompanies each name, where we detect a smile, a story.
A way of paying homage and not allowing these men and women to fall into oblivion, exercising a profession "
although usually not very risky
“, underlines the doctoral student in literature.
For her, composing this list was necessary.
“
With the images, I wanted to give a tangible aspect to these people who died for writing.
»
According to the writers' association in Iran, there are more than 34 authors and poets detained in the country since the beginning of the national uprising against the regime, sparked by the announcement of the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16, after her arrest for a scarf deemed "
poorly worn
".
In two months, more than 14,000 people have been arrested, according to
Human Rights Activists News Agency
.
Among them, novelists, directors, booksellers, translators, publishers...
In his list, Nasim Vahabi identifies, for example, Mahnaz Mohamadi, director, documentary filmmaker and activist for women's rights, imprisoned since September 19.
The poet and writer Baktash Abtin, member of the Iranian Writers Association, died of Covid on January 10, 2022 in prison, without ever having had access to care.
Or the author Reza Khandan Mahabadi, in prison since September 2020 at Evin prison in Tehran.
Each time, the charges against them speak of "
propaganda"
or
"attack on national security
".
In addition to literature, artists from every cultural discipline are affected by these threats.
"
The
work I do is a weapon and a responsibility
," says Iranian director Sepideh Farsi, who has lived in France since 1984. Similarly, for Nasim Vahabi, "
writing is resistance
" and a way of supporting the people. Iranian in its revolt.
Condition of Iranian writers: between physical censorship and moral censorship
In Iran, the Islamic government controls every part of society and the cultural sector, right down to the publication of the smallest book and the release of the smallest film.
The authorization office, within the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, decides whether such a book, film, screenplay or play respects their rules for publication.
The publication of a feature film even requires two authorizations: one after reading the script, then an exit visa once the shooting is finished.
Except that these permissions can be random, and are not limited to the content of the work.
“
It depends on the script, but also who you are, the producer, the actors, your origins, your father, etc.
I have, for example, already been criticized for being of Afghan origin after the shooting of one of my films
,” recalls Sepideh Farsi.
One of his works shot in Iran in 2006,
Le Regard
, was censored because of a scene of settling of amorous scores between a couple, which took place in a hotel.
No physical contact between the two characters, but seeing an unmarried couple in a hotel is forbidden by the Islamic regime, therefore also forbidden in the cinema.
“
All the rules laid down in life must be respected on the screen
“says the director.
"
All the artists who have published works in Iran have known this famous authorization
", continues Nasim Vahabi.
Two of his works are, moreover, still blocked by the office in Iran, which has not granted permission to publish them.
"
The situation is increasingly unbearable for all those who work in the book trades
," adds the Iranian.
And censorship kills, both physically and mentally.
"
A writer who experiences this kind of bullying has something in his life that gets killed.
Because while writing his novel, he put part of his thoughts, his time, his energy into it, and that is confiscated from him.
The censorship is violent, represses and imprisons the authors.
But in the long term, it also kills a writer's ambition and creativity when his work is not published.
»
Many artists in Iran, if they are not imprisoned, thus live in fear and self-censorship.
Or they must find ways to circumvent the regulations, risking their lives.
“
In the theatre, there may be inspectors at rehearsals who finally refuse to see the actors go on stage.
Some directors then organize performances in secret, in apartments, but it is extremely risky.
If they are discovered, they will be banned from practicing their profession, or even worse
,” says Sepideh Farsi.
► To read also: Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti poses without a veil
Despite the fear, do not discourage
So how to be an Iranian writer and not sink into despair?
“
I believe that the imagination becomes the only land of welcome when censorship and fear are omnipresent.
It is literature that becomes the country where we can live together in complete freedom
”, breathes Nasim Vahabi.
At the beginning of September, the author published in France a work translated by herself from Persian into French, entitled
Je ne suis pas un roman!
.
A perfect title to describe her own experience as a novelist, and to depict the gags of the cultural industry in Iran.
"
One of my novels has been '
imprisoned'
by the Ministry of Culture for seven years
," she says.
The chief censor told me it's because he's blackening.
»
In his book, his main protagonist goes to get his novel refused publication at the censorship office.
Except that she finds herself locked in the room of forbidden manuscripts, with her own book.
“
When my novel was confiscated, a part of me was also confiscated.
So
"I am not a novel"
signals to those who censor and imprison books that thinking and writing are acts of resistance.
»
Convinced that her book will one day be published in Iran, Nasim brings her strength to her fellow writers.
“
This list of authors locked up or killed is for me like the beginning of a campaign to fight against censorship and to demand justice for these people.
When I see this list, I say to myself: it could have been me
”, she confides.
“
Fear has changed sides
”
Art therefore remains a weapon, and “
this is also why the authorities attack the cinema so much and why they are so attentive
to the content of the films.
It's because cinema and the image in general have
power, and they are aware of it.
But they can't stop everything
,” continues Sepideh Farsi.
For her, what bothers them is free expression and criticism.
And the regime seems ready to do anything to muzzle the slightest reproach.
Except that with this solidarity movement which does not weaken, "
fear has changed sides
", attests Nasim Vahabi.
“
Before, fear was always with us.
But with the tragic death of this young woman, Mahsa Amini, the walls of fear are coming down.
This is why, in their own way, each artist, musician, director, novelist or activist, in Iran and among the diaspora, tries to bring his stone to the building.
“
We are doing everything we can, from inside and outside,
to make this fight succeed
,” guarantees Sepideh Farsi.
According to the director, “
for these rules and for censorship to disappear once and for all, the regime must disappear.
We cannot reform the current regime, we need a total paradigm shift
.
And so, perhaps one day "
literature and art will no longer have to undergo censorship in Iran
", hopes the writer Nasim Vahabi, who does not forget his colleagues, the writers in prison.
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