The book fair is an enduring legacy of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when workers and peasants toppled the Pahlevi dynasty, which had been propped up by the U.S. and British governments. The 1979 events opened up access for millions of toilers to culture and literature denied them since the 1953 coup engineered by Washington and London that put the shah back on the throne. At this year’s fair 1,800 Iranian and nearly 800 foreign publishers from 51 countries took part. A parallel press fair, at the same site, had 1,234 newspapers and magazines on display.
A feature of the fair is the “subsidized” hall. Books in languages such as English, French, German, and Spanish, are available there at discounted prices. Due to reactionary sanctions by the imperialist powers against Iran and unequal trade relations, it is difficult and expensive for students, librarians, professors, and researchers to obtain textbooks and other titles they need in these languages. To make the books more affordable, the Iranian government subsidized 60 percent of the price of books at this year’s fair. The governments of Japan, Mexico, Tajikistan, Morocco, and Turkey also had exhibits in this hall.
In other halls, exhibitors from Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraqi Kurdistan participated. The Afghan government had a stand with literature in Farsi by Afghani authors and poets. A book of poems by Afghani women, published in Iran, was a favorite item in that stand. Arabic publishers from several countries also displayed books.
Pathfinder Books stand
“It’s good to see you again,” said one student at the stand of Pathfinder Books, London, in the subsidized hall. Pathfinder titles on the Cuban Revolution and the two new issues of the Marxist theoretical magazine New International (see ad on front page), distributed by Pathfinder, sold well. Also in demand were books on the struggle for women’s liberation. After browsing through these books, a young woman from the Azerbaijani region of Iran who is studying electronic engineering said that women today account for 70 percent of university students. The British media ignores this reality, she added, in its efforts to portray the 1979 revolution as a setback for women.
A professor from a university south of the Caspian Sea came looking for new books by Jack Barnes and bought the two new issues of New International. The threats by U.S., British, and other imperialist powers against Iran for its efforts to develop nuclear power heightened interest in the “Earth at Night” composite photograph on the back cover of New International no. 13. It highlights the disparity in access to electricity—and consequently economic and social conditions—between imperialist and semicolonial countries and within each country.
With nearly 30 copies sold, in English and Spanish, the latest New Internationals were the top two sellers. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels came close behind. Top-selling Pathfinder authors included Jack Barnes, Leon Trotsky, George Novack, Evelyn Reed, and Ernesto Che Guevara.
A wide array of Farsi-language books was available in several crowded pavilions. Farsi translations of Pathfinder titles were available from two Farsi publishers. One, Golāzin, offered Problems of Women’s Liberation, now in its second printing; Marianas in Combat; Cosmetics, Fashions, and the Exploitation of Women; Sexism and Science; and Che Guevara Speaks. The latter sold more than 500 copies. Another publisher, Talaye Porsoo, reported sales of 520 books, including Farsi translations of Socialism and Man in Cuba by Che Guevara, and of the lead articles in New International no. 7—“The Opening Guns of World War III,” and no. 10—“Imperialism’s March toward Fascism and War.”
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