Two Publications in Iran Release Special Issues on Virginia Woolf

Two publications in Iran have recently dedicated a significant portion of their content to the renowned writer Virginia Woolf. The first is the magazine Samarkand, which has devoted almost all of its 260 pages to articles about her, and the second is the magazine Haft, which was published yesterday and primarily focuses on Woolf. Apparently, the film 'Three Women' has brought one of the prominent Western authors back into the spotlight, although this film is adapted from a novel by Michael Cunningham. Unfortunately, Virginia Woolf was first introduced in Iran by a poor translator; the free translation of 'The Waves' and subsequently 'Mrs. Dalloway' by Parviz Daryush led many readers to misunderstand the heavy atmosphere of the novels, discouraging any reputable translator from attempting a new translation of these two works. 'To the Lighthouse' was translated into Persian almost simultaneously by two translators, and later the book was published for years in a translation by Farhad Badri Zadeh with a print run of only 1,000 copies. The book 'Orlando' was also translated and published by Amir Kabir Publishing a few years ago. The publication of Woolf's books, even during the author's lifetime and despite positive critical reception, faced very low sales. This is particularly significant in a country where reading books is not common. Woolf's prose is very heavy and poetic, and many consider the translation of her works to be impossible. If you would like to familiarize yourself with a sample of her prose, here is an example from the translation of 'Mrs. Dalloway' by Parviz Daryush. 'For after a time living in Westminster - how many years had it been now? More than twenty years - one felt, even in the midst of the traffic, or when waking at night, a particular kind of silence, or a sort of heaviness, a kind of indescribable pause, a sort of suspension (but it might have been her heart, which they said had been damaged by influenza) until the moment Big Ben's bell rang. Ah, the sound of the bell rose. First the sound of the news, mixed with music, then the decree of the hour, irrevocable. Heavy circles dissolved in the air.'