Vazhe’s Literary Night

TORONTO-On Saturday February 5, 2005 Vazhe (the Iranian association of authors and artists in Toronto) held its monthly public gathering, at the North York Central Library, to showcase a number of Iranian-Canadian writers.

Vazhe, was established in 1995 by a group of writers, poets, dramatists, visual artists and musicians, as a vehicle to present the works of both amateur and professional Iranian writers in exile.

The event, which was attended by over 100 members of the community, showcased the work of writer and poet, Dona Robati and writer and translator Bahram Bahrami.

The special guest speaker of the night was Mr. Mohammad Mohammad Ali the editor of “Karnameh”, a Tehran based literary maga- zine. He is here in Toronto to gather material for an upcoming issue of the magazine, devoted exclusively to the work of Iranian- Canadian writers.

Mr. Mohammad Ali read his account of the events surrounding the infamous 1975 bus trip by members of the Iranian Association of Writer’s to Armenia. The trip that nearly ended in disaster when the bus was almost driven off the edge of a cliff was later revealed as a plot by the Islamic Republic to

Member of the Iranian Writer’s Association Mohammad Mohammad Ali

kill a large contingent of 21 writers, poets and journalists. Fortunately the plot failed and all the passengers survived.

The night ended with music by local Iranian artists in remembrance of the survivors of the recent Tsunami tragedy in Asia.

The next Vazhe meeting will be held next month.

For more information please visit www.vazhe.com