Intl. Storytelling Festival announces winners

TEHRAN,Jan.31(MNA)-- The winners of 15th International Storytelling Festival announced winners during the closing ceremony on Sunday in Urmia. Leila Ebrahimi (Iran) with “Guest of Mountain”, Elham Darabi (Iran) with “Mahrokh” and Georgiana Elena Boban (Romania) with “Purple Princess” were winners in the international section of the festival. Narges Romina (Iran) was selected at the Four Ladies of Religion and at the Literature and art center, Zahra Fatemi (Iran) was selected with her story “Harfabad” The storytellers shared tales from their motherlands with Iranian children at the festival that ran from January 26 to 29 in Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province. Seventeen storytellers were invited for the festival, out of which 12 participated in the competition section, four attended the side section, and one storyteller from Tajikistan was among the jury members. They came from Thailand, Afghanistan, Canada, Lebanon, Kenya, Romania, Indonesia, the United States and Denmark. The festival was organized by the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA). “A total of 1850 storytellers from different countries including Jordan, Romania, Thailand, Lebanon, Canada and Denmark submitted their works to the secretariat of the gala,” the IIDCYA deputy director for cultural affairs Mohammad Baqer Adusi mentioned previously. The festival was held in Urmia, capital of Western Azerbaijan Province in northwestern Iran.