An Interview With Ahmad Amani

The Letterpress Project has asked authors and illustrators to think about what has inspired them as artists, what their favourite books are and how they relate to their audience - we've also asked them if they themselves are book collectors.

We are delighted to present an interview with the author Ahmad Amani. Ahmad lives in the Middle East and he is a graduate of the Art University in Tehran. He has worked for many newspapers in Iran and Iraq as a Kurdish journalist.

His books are stories about people, society, and culture. The books were written in a new concept and fantasy form and he hopes that his books make you think, while you enjoy them.

You can read what Ahmad had to tell us in his interview  below:

Ahmad_einterview.pdf

Math City by Ahmad Amani, illustrated by Mehdi Anoshivani

I am one of those many people who has a lifelong fear of mathematics brought about by some shockingly bad teaching at primary school that left me unprepared for the horrors of algebra, geometry and worse once I got to secondary school. I can still vividly remember the nightly tears as my dad tried patiently to help me understand my maths homework (he was unsuccessful). Despite trying extraordinarily hard, I failed my maths mock O’ Level exam and so, to everyone’s relief, I was not allowed to take the exam. I have so far managed to get through life without the qualification and am pretty certain that I would fail it again even today – some things are just not meant to be.  Given my problem, I approached this rather quirky young adult novella with some trepidation. The idea of living in something called ‘Math City’ sounded like my worst nightmare but perhaps reading about it might help me to feel more comfortable with the subject?

Zizek and Nanjo monster

Today, I and Dania (my daughter) watched "Friends Naki on the Monster Island" by Takashi Yamazaki.

A child named Kotake wanders onto an island called Monster Island by the locals and meets up with a red ogre named Naki.

There is two cute monsters in this great animation, Nanjo & Naki. Human (Yes Us) is afraid of the monsters. But the Japanese child go to the island, and he became friends with both monsters, but Kotake have to come back his home, next Naki monster miss and want to see his friend (Kotake).

As always, humans are afraid, so that Naki could not go to their Village! Nanjo has a secret plan, he make decision to be an ugly monster and kill all of human, but Naki don't let him to do this. People be surprised and see Naki is fighting with Nanjo (his best friend) for them, and when Nanjo lose the fight, all of people would be happy that Naki saved them, so Naki could be friends with locals and could be able to see his friend (Kotake).

ZIzek, at last article, speak about lifts, and show us, all of us are same frightened people who need to again be afraid by a worse monster for that we could be able to make a change in our mind.

Now, we know about our fear (by Zizek's help), so why do we need fear for making change, or why don't we able to change our view without fear?

Link of Zizek's great article:

http://inthesetimes.com/article/19918/slavoj-zizek-from-the-ashes-of-liberal-democracy

I think this is an absolutely creative book/Ann Fields/Author

"My assumption after reading the book trailer and author bio is that I would be reading a book about numbers personified and representing life (or rather conflict) in the Middle East. I did get numbers with human characteristics and a story line that provided great insight into the human condition/character and cultures in conflict.

At first I read the story, supplanting the Middle East as the characters/conflict but soon realized this could have been any number of countries or areas in conflict--North/South Korea, Israel/Palestine, America Democrats/Republicans, Egypt/Egypt, etc.--which makes this a universal story; a story of the human struggle for justice, equality, and just the basic right to live free and happy.

Math City is another book which proves we are all the same regardless of where we live. This is also the age-old story of the dangers inherent in absolute power. Although it is a short read, it took a while to reach the end because of all the thoughts and ideas the story generates as one is reading.

I think this is an absolutely creative book and I am looking forward to reading the sequel." Reviewed By Ann Fields/Author of Fuller's Curse

Math City in Kindle format, a book from the Middle East:

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B9291FI

We and the last rhino

When I look at the Pic of the last male northern white rhino, I see human fate more than a fate of an animal. In fact, this is our fate under armed guard 24/7, who has made the situation and now they want to save us.

Eugène Ionesco in Rhinoceros play (written in 1959) show us how people turn into rhinoceroses, but in our time we could see how animals turn into human.

Think about the stupid phrase: in the end of world, all of things have changed into humanitarian issues. Oh yes other mean of this phrase is that; you (lions, rhinos, stars and so on and so on) have to face extinction, because we want to countuinue our generation.

There is no way, you must change into a human issue, in fact you have to turn into human...


Link of the news:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/16/africa/kenya-northern-white-rhino/index.html

Why are we going to other planets?

When we watch the Video with accuracy; very soon we will understand we can & able to solve our environmental problems on the earth.

Here, the radical question is that why have we, as a wisdom creature, spent a lot of money for searching and finding another planet like our earth for living, but we are not ready to spend some money for survive our earth?

Also this one is so terrible; the tragic irony is that the monies (funds) we have spent to find another planet like our earth for living, has been provided the earth itself.

Please don't make a mistake the words don't mean I am against study an searching on astronomy, but there is a basic problem, as the earth resources has been finished how we could continue the studies, without the earth (resources) we aren't anything.

Based on studies، our sun is going to die someday. We might want to look for a new solar system, also we, as clever creature, like to know about our world, so studying on astronomy & space is our need, who could oppose against Galileo Galile, in fact nobody, but need to note the point; unfortunately, we have destroyed our earth before that we can find a new planet.

All of our concerns, like finally earth would be destroy by sun and any other things, are not an acceptable reason for us to destroy our earth in this way, please see what happened, we are destroying our earth with more speed because all of us know; finally our earth would be destroyed!

Unfortunately, we are fordoing the earth before any Galaxy accident could be happen.

In other side, we do not have the right to consider our earth just as a thing which we could use it in any way we want.

Personally I think it wrong to look for another planet as an alternative for the earth because of what we are doing to it. We are closer to solving the problems on this planet with the technology we have, than to make the trip to another solar-system.

If our aim is to find new planet for living, so why are we destroying our earth, there is a serious question; really why are we going to other planets? and what's our aim?

Please tell us what do you think and why have we (HUMAN), to find a planet like our earth, spent more money (funds) than surviving the earth?

Link of the Video: (Note: This Video would be only a simple example of many new ways that we could and able to our earth, surely this not enough.)

https://www.facebook.com/yooDesignStudio/videos/10154217681421044/

All us are Gregor Samsa!

“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.” Franz Kafka
I think the radical question is that: Why did all us get a surprise about American's election and so on? IN fact, a real surprise, for me, is that why thinkers like Alain Badiou could not able to predict our situation, and worse than it, why all us get a magic sort of surprise, again and again? We need to read "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka, again; instead of would be surprise again and again.
“It Was During the Horror of a Profound Night.” by Alain Badiou