Pouria Alami

Pouria Alami
Pouria Alami
Pouria Alami
Born (1983-02-23) 23 February 1983 (age 41)
Tehran, Iran
OccupationWriter
NationalityIranian
Literary movementPersian literature, Writing political satire, Writer of children's books
Notable worksA Treaty for Drinking Tea
Notable awardsHooshang Golshiri Literary Awards (nominated)
SpouseZahra Omrani (m. 1981)
ChildrenNila (b. 2019)

Pouria Alami (Persian: پوریا عالمی; born 23 February 1983 in Tehran) is an Iranian writer, satirist, journalist and writer of children's books.[1][2][3] He is best known for his satirical columns in Iranian newspapers during the decades of 2000s and 2010s. The Coachman (Persian: کاناپه‌چی, Canapeh-chi), The Elevatorman (Persian: آسانسورچی, Asansor-chi) and The Adventures of Midoon and Sophia are some of his most popular columns which are later on published in book formats, too. In addition, he has published some collections of short stories and poems in Iran.[4]

Alami said farewell to the world of journalism in 2019. He has continued his cultural activities as a writer of children's books in iGhesseh (iGhe3) Startup, and also as editor-in-chief in Radio Gousheh.[5]

Professional life

Alami did not continue his studies after graduating from high school. While he was a high school student, he worked as a librarian in the public library of Shahryar and the culture house of Shahrak Andisheh. He started writing for magazines such as Nourooz and Gol-Agha during these years.

In 2003, he designed and published his first mind game named Red Riding Hood, a combination of comic strips, story-telling, game map,s and storybooks, illustrated by Bozorgmehr Hosseinpour. At the same time, he worked as a layout designer for Gol-Agha monthly and then as art manager of several magazines and newspapers.

He self-published his first book, Half an Hour Before Seven in Tehran and then became the writer, head of writers, and editor-in-chief of the cultural radio programs of Radio Tehran until 2009.

An overview of Tahmasb's collection by Pouria Alami is published in the book: Three Tales by Iraj Tahmasb.[6]

Activity in the press

In the same year, he started writing two columns, Coffee Reading and Rajab's Mother, in the new period of E’temad Melli Newspaper which brought him a reputation. At the same time, he was the manager of the satire section of Shabnameh, the first daily satire page in Persian press, in E’temad Melli Newspaper.[7]

As a result, his reputation as a satirical columnist was established. Columns such as The Coachman (Canapeh-chi), The Elevatorman (Asansor-chi), The Adventures of Midoon, and Sophia are some of his most popular columns.[8][9][10]

In 2000, while he was a junior in high school, Pouria Alami began his official collaboration as a librarian and writer at Gol-Agha Cultural Institute. The same year, he started his journalistic work in Nourooz Newspaper, Hamshahri Newspaper and Gol-Agha Magazine. His career in this period mainly consisted of writing satirical columns for newspapers and magazines. Some of these columns became so popular that they were published as books later. For a while, he worked as editor of games and designer of table games in Children Gol-Agha Magazine.[11]

During his years of journalistic work, Pouria Alami has also written poetry and fiction. His novel, The Window Dies Sooner, was nominated for Hooshang Golshiri Prize,[12] one of the most prestigious literary prizes in Iran. He has published several poetry collections too. A Treaty for Drinking Tea is one of his most famous poetry collections. Nonetheless, most of the books published by Alami are compilations of the satirical columns he had written for various newspapers.[13][14]

Imprisonment

In February and March 2013, Alami was arrested by Iran Ministry of Intelligence and imprisoned for 32 days in Evin Prison.[5][15][16][17]

Other activities

He is the founder and CEO of two platforms, iGhe3 and Radio Gousheh.

Inaugurated in 2018, iGhe3 is a mobile and web platform for producing children's stories in Persian. Alami is both the manager and the writer of the iGhe3 City series on this platform.[citation needed]

Works/Publications

  • Alami, Pouria (2014). "Totally Harmless". World Literature Today. 88 (2): 35-37. doi:10.7588/worllitetoda.88.2.0035.
  • Pouria Alami has also contributed to several publications including Diary of a Wistful Man by Edik Boghosian which is a compilation of 365 Persian short poems.[18]

References

  1. ^ دستورالعمل کافه‌نویسی
  2. ^ "دخترها به راحتی نمی‌توانند درکش کنند (صحبت‌ی پوریا عالمی)". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  3. ^ پوریا عالمی و میلاد فدایی اصل آزاد شدند
  4. ^ Farjami, Mahmud (18 May 2017). Iranian Political Satirists: Experience and motivation in the contemporary era. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 978-90-272-6575-3.
  5. ^ a b "Pouria Alami". journalismisnotacrime.com. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Creator of 'Red Hat' Shares His Stories". Financial Tribune.
  7. ^ ""Bitter Dream" cast meeting in pictures". Art and Experience Cinema. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Iran's reformist newspapers protest against arrests of journalists". The Iran Project. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Contemporary Persian poems in Armenian". Right Vision Media.
  10. ^ "Iran arrests more than a dozen journalists". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ "Iran: Journalists call on Romania to prosecute judge for human rights violations / FIJ". www.ifj.org (in French). Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  12. ^ "نامزدهای دریافت یازدهمین دوره جایزه ادبی گلشیری معرفی شدند". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 20 December 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  13. ^ "با رمانهای متفاوت سال 89 آشنا شوید/ماجرای کفترکش، خنده‌ شغال و..." خبرآنلاین (in Persian). 2 January 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  14. ^ "JOURNAL ARTICLE: Harmless: Reading Coffee Cups on Freud's Couch in Tehran". JSTOR.
  15. ^ "حکم یک سال زندان پوریا عالمی اجرا می‌شود". رادیو فردا (in Persian). Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  16. ^ "Iran's Crackdown on Satirists". IRANWIRE.
  17. ^ "Iran arrests 11 reformist journalists: reports". SyndiGate Media Inc.
  18. ^ "Contemporary Persian Poems in Armenian". Financial Tribune.