''Alefba'' ( fa, الفبا) is a Persian-language literary magazine with two periods of publication, one in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

before the 1979 revolution and another thereafter in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Gholam-Hossein Sa'edi Gholām-Hossein Sā'edi MD ( fa, غلامحسین ساعدی, also transliterated as Gholamhoseyn Sa'edi and Ghulamhusayn Sa'idi; January 15, 1936 in Tabriz – November 23, 1985 in Paris) was a prolific Iranian writer. He published over forty ...

was the editor of both versions. In Iran the publisher was Amir Kabir Publishers, while in France the publisher was the Association of Iranian Writers in Exile.

Tehran

Several Iranian literary magazines emerged in 1960s and 1970s as a result of new authors and increased literary production in the country. In 1973, Amir Kabir Publishers invested 25,000 toman (about $3,500) in a new quarterly literary magazine, ''Alefba'', and selected Gholamhoseyn Sa'edi to be the editor. Aside from the editorial labor, Sa'edi was responsible for its choosing its title, as well as penning the calligraphy decorating the cover. ''Alefba'' quickly gained status as one of Iran's top literary journals and famous Iranian intellectuals, such as

Simin Daneshvar Simin Dāneshvar ( fa, سیمین دانشور)‎ (28 April 1921 – 8 March 2012) was an Iranian academic, novelist, fiction writer and translator. She was largely regarded as the first major Iranian woman novelist. Her books dealt with the ...

, had their works published in it. Nevertheless Sa'edi frequently selected works of previously unpublished writers or writers he knew personally to be published, and esteemed the political independence of the magazine, which featured writers with different worldviews. In 1974, Sa'edi was arrested by

SAVAK SAVAK ( fa, ساواک, abbreviation for ''Sâzemân-e Ettelâ'ât va Amniat-e Kešvar'', ) was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service in Iran during the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty. SAVAK operated from 1957 until prime ...

, the late shah's secret police. He edited first six issues of the magazine between 1973 and 1976. The last issue of ''Alefba'' (last issue in Tehran) was published in 1977.

Paris

After the revolution, in 1982, Gholamhoseyn Sa'edi fled to France. Within months of his exile, together with the Association of Iranian Writers in Exile, Sa'edi began to publish a new version of ''Alefba'' in Paris. He continued to edit the magazine until his untimely death in 1985. The final 1986 issue is a collection of Sa'edi's previously unpublished works. Sa'edi wrote that the goal of ''Alefba'' was "to keep alive the Iranian art and culture which the Islamic Republic oppresses."Sa'edi, Gholamhoseyn. "Sharh-e Ahval," ''Alefba'' (Paris, 1986), no. 7, p. 5. In addition to publishing works of numerous other Iranians in exile, ''Alefba'' was the sole literary venue in which Sa'edi published his own works in exile.

Notes

{{Reflist 1973 establishments in Iran 1986 disestablishments in France Cultural magazines published in Iran Defunct literary magazines published in France Defunct magazines published in Iran Magazines established in 1973 Magazines disestablished in 1986 Magazines published in Paris Magazines published in Tehran Persian-language magazines