Hadi Mohammadi

Hadi Mohammadi (1961 – …) is an author who has dedicated several decades solely to writing. Most of his works in the field of children’s and young adult literature have been published in Persian in Iran and translated into other languages outside of Iran. His adult stories, with the exception of the book “The Mouse That Ate the Cats”, have not yet had the chance to be published in Iran due to strict censorship barriers. The overarching themes in his works are humanistic, focusing on suffering, injustice, and the lack of freedom, which are constant concerns reflected in his writings.

Mohammadi, born in 1961 in Tehran, is a researcher and children’s story writer. He completed his high school education in 1979 and began writing professionally for both adults and children at the age of 22. His first published story, “The Astronauts in the Brick Kiln”, was released in 1988, depicting the lives of two rural child laborers working in a brick kiln. This story won the Book of the Year award from Soroush Nojavan magazine in 1989. Another notable work of his, “Where is the Coal Mine?”, received the Book of the Year award from the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in Iran.

In addition to writing stories for children and adults, he is active in two main areas: theoretical and historical research in the field of children’s literature, and literacy education in Persian, as well as creative teaching through children’s literature. He is a co-founder of the Research Institute for the History of Children’s Literature and one of the main authors of the ten-volume series “The History of Children’s Literature in Iran”. In 2006, Mohammadi was nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.