"Let's not build walls around ourselves" - Iranian children's book illustrator denied access to the UK

I know, I know, posting news items may not be what Steemit is for, but this one had me particularly outraged this morning and I wanted to give it a bit more visibility among a group of people that would particularly care about issues like this.

Yes, Steemians, that would be you...

Ehsan Abdollahi, a very highly acclaimed Iranian illustrator of children's books, has been denied entry to the UK with “no right of appeal or right to administrative review”.

Regards given for the refusal were the origin of very modest funds in the author's bank account as well as the fact that he is single.

“You have submitted a bank balance statement from Tejarat Bank with a latest balance of IRR 679,529,024 (£16,124). However it is not clear where these funds originate from. As such, without evidence of the origin of this money, I am not satisfied that it is genuinely yours and available to fund the proposed visit. I note you are divorced and no one is dependent on you.”

In a reaction to the decision, Abdollahi drew the following illustration and posted it online:

“I was meant to be the jin in the bottle for the kids in the festival, the bottle is the symbol of happiness, but then after the visa refusal I realised it has become a bottle of despair, so I drew that. It carries a message of peace.”

This is the third year in a row that Tiny Owl, Abdollahi's UK publisher, has seen visa refusals for Iranian authors. Other publishers have seen similar cases.

Pippa Goodhart, another author of children's books, wrote an excellent opinion piece on the publisher's website, the title of which I reused for my post.

"We may not have built physical walls around ourselves yet, but this country is in the process of quietly closing minds in ways that most of us haven’t been aware of. I find the whole thing shocking and shaming, and I hope that you do too."

Anyway, here is a link to Ehsan Abdollahi's wonderful book on Amazon and here is one for the Guardian. I will be ordering mine right now.

However saddened and angered I am by this, I am absolutely delighted that it made me come across this gallery of pictures from Iranian children's books. What beautiful pieces of art that I may otherwise never have come across! I can't wait to read them to my own children.

All images courtesy of Tiny Owl