Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
Encyclopedia
Mahmoud Dowlatabadi (born 1940 in Dowlatabad, Sabzevar
) is an Iran
ian writer and actor. He is known as a realist
writer of stories of rural life, in which he largely draws on his own experiences.
Province, Iran
, and spent his youth helping his father with farming and tending the flocks and reading tales of Persian folklore. But as a teenager, he became bored with rural life, left the keys to his shop with a village boy, and moved to Mashhad
, where he stayed for just a year until his love of theatre brought him to Tehran
. Soon after arriving in Tehran, he enrolled in acting classes and started to write whenever he found the time. He later joined the Anahita Drama Group. In 1975, he was arrested and spent over a year in prison
.
Since he began writing in the 1960s, Dowlatabadi has published over ten novels as well as a number of novellas, short story collections, and plays. His first story, "The End of the Night," was published in 1962 in the Anahita Literary Magazine. His writing combines the poetic tradition of his culture with the everyday speech of the villages.
Sabzevar
Sabzevar is a city in, and the capital of Sabzevar County, in Razavi Khorasan Province in northeastern Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 208,172, in 57,024 families.It is approximately 220 kilometres west of Mashhad, the provincial capital...
) is an Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian writer and actor. He is known as a realist
Literary realism
Literary realism most often refers to the trend, beginning with certain works of nineteenth-century French literature and extending to late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century authors in various countries, towards depictions of contemporary life and society "as they were." In the spirit of...
writer of stories of rural life, in which he largely draws on his own experiences.
Biography
He was born in Dowlatabad, a village in the Sabzevar, north-western part of the KhorasanNorth Khorasan Province
North Khorasan Province is a province located in northeastern Iran. Bojnord is the centre of the province.Other counties are Shirvan, Esfarayen, Maneh-o-Samalqan, Jajarm, Faroj and Germeh....
Province, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, and spent his youth helping his father with farming and tending the flocks and reading tales of Persian folklore. But as a teenager, he became bored with rural life, left the keys to his shop with a village boy, and moved to Mashhad
Mashhad
Mashhad , is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is also the only major Iranian city with an Arabic name. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its...
, where he stayed for just a year until his love of theatre brought him to Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
. Soon after arriving in Tehran, he enrolled in acting classes and started to write whenever he found the time. He later joined the Anahita Drama Group. In 1975, he was arrested and spent over a year in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
.
Since he began writing in the 1960s, Dowlatabadi has published over ten novels as well as a number of novellas, short story collections, and plays. His first story, "The End of the Night," was published in 1962 in the Anahita Literary Magazine. His writing combines the poetic tradition of his culture with the everyday speech of the villages.
Themes
His work often explores the decline of the rural lifestyle and the violence that can result from poverty and marginalization.Novels
Dowlatabadi's novels include The Legend of Baba Sobhan (1970), which was made into a motion picture by Masud Kimiai entitled "Khak" (Earth/dust; 1972), the 3,000 page epic Kelidar (1984), and Missing Soluch (1979), which he wrote in just 70 nights after he was released from prison. His most recent novel is The Colonel (2009), which has not yet been published in its original language in Iran due to censorship issues.Translations
- In Norway, Den tomme plassen etter Soluch is translated into Norwegian by N. Zandjani. Oslo, Solum forlag 2008.