Melville House Books

Speaking at the opening of the 84th annual Iranian Publishers Book Fair in the northeastern Iranian city of Semnan, the country’s deputy minister of culture noted “200 million books are being published in Iran every year” and that “Iran is among the top ten countries in publishing,” thanks to a “great increase in publishing school books and books for seminaries and academic centers.” According to a brief wire report from Iran’s Mehr News Agency, the minister, Mohammad-Ali Shoa’i encouraged the industry to hold more regional book fairs to “help promote the culture of publishing and book reading nationwide.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.