An exceptional opportunity for short story writers

Lion Lounge Press is an independent publishing company that specialises in creative writing, both short creative fiction and non-fiction, as well as poetry.

The Lion Lounge Press is currently accepting submissions of the above description for their 2010 publications, and I would like to extend an invitation to you to pass on our details to your Creative Writing students.

In August of this year, Lion Lounge Press published the first issue of its literary journal, The Lounge Companion, in which we managed to include both previously unpublished authors from various creative writing courses around the world, as well as established and critically acclaimed writers.

Though The Lion Lounge does not offer pecuniary compensation for shortlisted submissions, we realise that publication is in itself a form of remuneration, especially for those that are looking to make a name for themselves as writers, and we would also like to stress that in no way do we intend to seize hold of the writers’ copyright. In fact, contracts will be drafted with shortlisted authors in order to protect their interests.

The next issue of The Lounge Companion is scheduled for publication in March 2010, and we will continue to accept submissions for it until the 31st December 2009.

We also welcome submissions for our other 2010 publications, including travel writing and other genre fiction. Please have a look at www.thelionlounge.com for more details. The website also includes downloadable posters in pdf-format, that I would otherwise gladly email to you, should you so wish.

If you have any queries regarding the above-mentioned, please do not hesitate to ask.

All submissions are to be sent to submissions@thelionlounge.com.

There are no thematical restrictions. All themes, thoughts, and ideas are welcome.

Prose Criteria: a maximum of 3 short stories, of no more than 2,500 words each
Poetry Criteria: a maximum of 5 poems on no more than 5 pages in total
Submission Deadline: 31st December 2009

Email your submissions as MS Word document (.doc) attachments, and state ‘Prose,’ or ‘Poetry’ in the subject line respectively.
You’re more than welcome to submit both prose and poetry, though please submit them separately.

Kind regards,

Leon Turner

Founding Editor

Mr. President Obama: It’s the Persian Gulf. Please don’t step on a nation’s dreams – an open letter to President Obama

October 11, 2009

Source: www.arashhejazi.com/en/blog

Your Excellency,

President Obama,

First of all, I would like to seize this opportunity to congratulate you for your Noble Peace Prize. I really hope this prize can get your message through to the hearts and minds that are sealed with hatred and lust for power.

I am Arash Hejazi. You might have heard my name before, as I am the doctor who tried to save Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman who was shot during the peaceful demonstration against the frauds in the Iranian elections, the same woman you have mentioned twice in your speeches in the last four months.

I am the one who left his country to bear witness to the absolute cruelty and injustice that ended up in the death of that innocent girl who was shot in the chest by an Iranian pro-government militiaman and bled to death under my eyes.

Mr. President,

I was there when Neda died. I made sure that the world saw the look in her eyes just before she died. I testified about the circumstances of her death, so that every tyrant in the world would know that there is always someone watching.

She died for a reason there; she died for a dream at a time when all dreams were shattered. She died to bring back dignity to a country that was becoming one of the most hated states in the world. She tried to show the world that Iran was not about nuclear activities, terrorism and fundamentalism, but about believing in dreams, courage, dignity, unconditional love, and paying any price necessary to get one step closer to freedom. Her death introduced anew the purity of a three thousand year old nation to the world.

I have lost everything since I bore witness to this crime, I have lost my career, my decent life in Iran, my family security, my safety, my country, and now I am on my own in this large world, without money, without a job, and with a family to support.

But I don’t regret what I have done and I would have done it again if the clock turned back; although the world watched that innocent look in Neda’s eyes and did nothing. Millions of people shed tears, but no one did anything. As usual, everybody watched, they cursed the tyrant, they blessed the martyr, but no one took a step to support a nation that has been the homeland to the first declaration of human rights.

Nevertheless, I am not writing this letter because I want you to do something. No, the people of Iran will fight and gain their freedom without asking for the help of any authority in the world. What makes me compelled to write to you is that although we don’t need anyone’s support, we appreciate if the world does not try to distort the truth.

Neda did not die for a country, but for a dream called Iran. One of the major symbols of Iran in the hearts of the Iranians is the Persian Gulf, a beautiful gulf in the Middle East that in your speech, you have referred to as ‘The Gulf’.

Mr. President, the Persian Gulf has been called the Persian Gulf BC by Daryus the Great and Herodotus in the fifth century; by Claudius Ptolemaues in the second century BC and by Quintus Curticus Rufus in the first century AD, and its official name is still the ‘Persian Gulf’. The United Nations has issued two editorial directives in which the states have been asked to only use “Persian Gulf” as the official and standard geographical designation for the body of water.

The implication of Neda in your speech was heart-warming for the Iranian Nation; however, when you omit the word ‘Persian’ from the Persian Gulf, you are stepping on the dreams of Neda and a nation that have nothing left but their dignity and their dreams. I am sure that you have no intention of stripping a nation from what is rightfully theirs.

I have lost everything for a dream, and I believe that you Mr. President are one of the few politicians left in the world who still believe in dreams.

I salute you and I wish you the very best in the long journey ahead of you. I hope you too wish the best for a nation that is struggling towards its dream for freedom and prosperity amidst the blood of its loved ones.

Sincerely yours,

Arash Hejazi

Arash Hejazi's open letter to Ahmadinejad

Mr. Ahmadinejad, it’s enough. Shame on you! Open your eyes!

In the past three months, millions of the Iranians declared that they don’t want you; in different tones, in the campaigns before the elections, on the day of the election and during the protests after the election; despite and your ruthless and cruel oppression. Have you asked yourself even once that why these people don’t like you and why they show you their dislike, even for the price of their securities and lives?

In between the justifications that even you don’t believe in them, in between your meetings with your companions when you blame everybody, from the east to the western ends of the world, for inciting the Iranian people to uprising in objection to your policies, have you ever asked yourself why these people do not give up?

Mr. Ahmadinejad,

How many times have you claimed the death of Neda is ‘suspicious’? Have you ever asked yourself what had she done to deserve such a fate? Despite all the undeniable evidences and proofs published about Neda’s death, what evidence have you published to show that you are telling the truth? In the election debates you said that liars are cowards. But you lied even then. Liars are shameless, they don’t have a conscience. The liars shoot a young and innocent girl in the chest in the broad daylight and then blame fantastic conditions for her death......

[read the rest of this open letter here]

Arash Hejazi's website relaunched

After the 'unexpected shutdown' of my website after my testimonial for Neda's murder, I have managed to restore my website at a new domain. Please kindly update your book marks to: www.arashhejazi.com/en/
From now on I will update my blog at the above mentioned address.
Regards,
Arash Hejazi

Neda Agha Soltan murder witness at risk of torture in Tehran prison

Caspian Makan, the fiancé of Neda Agha Soltan, a young woman killed in the recent protests in Iran, has been held in detention since 26 June, after he made a statement linking her murder to the pro-government Basij militia.

Currently held in Evin Prison in Tehran, Caspian Makan is reported to have told his family that if he signs a "confession" saying that the People's Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), a political body banned in Iran since 1981, killed her, then he may be released.

Amnesty International said it fears he may be forced to sign such a "confession" under torture or other ill-treatment, given the pattern of human rights violations in Iran following the election. The organization said that he may be a prisoner of conscience, held for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.
(read the rest)

The face of Abbas Kargar Javid — man accused of killing Neda Soltan

The Times
August 20, 2009
The man accused of killing Neda Soltan has been identified as Abbas Kargar Javid, a pro-government militiaman, after photographs of the Basiji’s ID cards appeared on the internet.

The identification challenges the Iranian regime’s claim that foreign agents shot the young woman, who became a global symbol of resistance to the Government of President Ahmadinejad.

Read the rest here.

International Publishers Association Calls for the Immediate Release of Publishes List of Arrested Iranian Journalists, Publishers & Writers

Source: International Publishers Association
Geneva, 31 July 2009
Following the massive wave of arrests targeting bloggers, journalists, publishers and writers, the International Publishers Association (IPA) publishes a list of some of those under arrest (see Note for Editors), and demands their immediate release.
IPA also calls on the Iranian authorities to drop the investigation of Arash Hejazi, the publisher who provided the first aid to Neda Agha-Soltan, killed during the street protests on 20 June 2009.
Publisher Arash Hejazi (Caravan publishing) is pictured on video trying to help 26 year old Neda Agha-Soltan during her last moments. On 29 June 2009, Mr. Ahmadinejad called for a probe into Neda's "suspicious" death, and sent a letter to judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi requesting a serious investigation to help identify "the elements" behind Neda's killing. A few days later, Iran's police chief, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, declared that Arash Hezaji, Paulo Coehlo’s publisher in Farsi, who was present at the death of Neda during opposition street protests in Tehran, was under investigation by both Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and by the international policy agency (Interpol). Since then, Interpol has denied any knowledge of the case.
Bjorn Smith-Simonsen, Chair of IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee, declares: “A climate of terror has taken over Iran since the 12 June elections. Massive arrests have been targeting journalists, bloggers, writers and publishers as a way to stifle freedom of expression. Ahead of Iran’s review by the United Nations Human Rights Council, IPA is urging the Iranian authorities to release immediately all the journalists, bloggers, writers and publishers who have been engaged in non-violent demonstrations, thus exercising their right to freedom of expression. In addition, IPA is also calling on the Iranian authorities to drop the investigation of Arash Hejazi, the publisher who provided the first aid to young Neda, killed during the street protests on 20 June”.

Iran is now being described as the second largest prison for journalists worldwide following the wave of arrests among the intellectuals, including publishers, since the June street protests. The following is a list of named arrested journalists, writers, and publishers since the protests of last month:
Ahmad Zeidabadi - Journalist
Maziar Bahari - Journalist
Said Leylaz - Journalist
Homa Rousta - Actress
Jila Bani Yaghub - Journalist
Issa Saharkhiz - Journalist
Keivan Samimi - Magazine Publisher
Abdolreza Tajik - Editor
Mojtaba Pourmohsen - Journalist
Mehdi Khazali - Publisher (Hayyan)
Kambiz Norouzi - Secretary of the Legal Committee of the Iranian Journalists'
Association
Alireza Beheshti - Editor in Chief (Kalameh Sabz newspaper)
Shokoufeh Azar - Journalist
Behzad Basho - Cartoonist
Hengameh Shahidi - Journalist
Mahsa Amrabadi - Journalist
Masood Bastani - Journalist, Blogger
Misagh Bolhasani - Poet
Mohammad-Reza Yazdan Panah - Journalist
Majid Saidi - Photographer
Satiar Emami - Photographer
Said Movahedi - Photographer
Mehdi Zaboli - Photographer
Shadi Sadr - Journalist
Arash Hejazi - Writer, Publisher (Prosecuted)