Mana Neyestani

Mana Neyestani (Persian: مانا نیستانی‎; born 1973) is an Iranian cartoonist, illustrator, and comic book creator. His work appears internationally in economic, intellectual, political and cultural magazines. He is particularly known for his work for reformist papers in Iran and Persian language websites Radio Zamaneh, Tavaana: E-Learning Institute for Iranian Civil Society, and IranWire. He is also well-known because of his cartoons about Iranian presidential election, 2009. He is the 2010 recipient of the Cartoonists Rights Network International Award for Courage in Editorial Cartooning.[1] He lives in France.

Mana Neyestani
Bornمانا نیستانی
1973 (age 46–47)
Tehran, Iran
NationalityIranian
Area(s)Cartoonist, Colourist
AwardsCartoonists Rights Network International award for courage in editorial cartooning, 2010

Early life

Mana was born in Tehran. His father Manouchehr Neyestani (1936 - 1981) was a well-known Iranian poet from Kerman and his mother is from Tehran. Touka Neyestani a fellow cartoonist as well is Mana's older brother. Mana has a master's degree in Architecture from the University of Tehran.[2]

Career

Mana began his professional cartooning career in 1989, and started drawing editorial cartoons in 1998, for Zan. During 1998-2000, he drew a large number of cartoons for various reformist newspapers, such as Asr-e Azadegan, Sobhe Emrooz, Mosharekat, Azad, Neshat (as a freelancer), and Aftab-e Emrooz (as a staff cartoonist). His cartoons are published regularly on the website of Iranian exile media Radio Zamaneh, as well as Tavaana: E-Learning Institute for Iranian Civil Society and IranWire.

Books

Mana Neyestani has authored several books, mostly Graphic Novels. The Adventures of Mr Ka is his most famous Comic book series and consists of 4 books, all in Persian.

  • Kaboos (Nightmare) was published in Iran in 2000
  • Khaneh Ashbah (The House of Ghosts) was published in Iran in 2001, and after it was banned in Iran, it was republished in the United States in 2014[3]
  • Puzzle Asheghaneh Aghai-e Ka (The Love Puzzle of Mr Ka) was published in Iran in 2004, and after it was banned in Iran, it was republished in the United States in 2014[4]
  • Hogopsi was published in the United States in 2013[5]

An Iranian Metamorphosis is his biographical Graphic Novel. It was originally published in French, and later was published in German, Spanish and English languages as well.[6][7][8][9]

Controversy
Main article: Iran newspaper cockroach cartoon controversy

Riots erupted by ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran when they took offense to a Neyestani cartoon[10] published in the children's section of the 12 May 2006 supplement of Iran, a government-run newspaper. The cartoon depicted a cockroach responding in Azerbaijani. Neyestani, along with Mehrdad Ghasemfar, the editor-in-chief of Iran, were arrested by government officials and the newspaper was closed down following the riots.[11]

Neyestani and the editor of the paper ended up in solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin prison under conditions the cartoonist described as "Kafkaesque." Three months later, Neyestani was given a temporary prison leave and used it to flee the country with his wife. He finally ended up in exile in France where he published a graphic novel titled An Iranian Metamorphosis, about his time in prison.[12]

Awards
  • Award for courage in editorial cartooning (presented by Cartoonists Rights Network International), 2010[1]
  • 2nd award of housing in Tehran (1999)
  • 2nd award of Atomic Bomb cartoon contest of Golagha magazine (1999)
  • Diploma of honor of football international cartoon contest in Iran (1999)
  • Diploma of honor of 4th biennial international cartoon in Iran (1999)
  • Selected in section final of comic strip in Umoristi a Marostica in Italy (1999)
  • First award of the press festival in cartoon in Iran (1999)
  • 2nd award of blue-sky contest in Tehran (1998)
  • 4th award of blue-sky contest in Tehran (1997)
gollark: I think flipping a switch then editing a software option then flipping it again would be a bit weird.
gollark: I would quite like the idea of software controlled power switches with physically wired on LEDs (so you can see it's actually off) but have no idea if it would be practical and it's probably too expensive.
gollark: I thought you meant software controlled hard power switches but now I'm confused.
gollark: Wait, how would that work?
gollark: Good enough, then.

References
  1. Duin, Steve. "Mana Neyestani honored for courage in cartooning," The Oregonian (June 18, 2010).
  2. "Biography of Mana Neyestani". International Cartoon Center or IRANCARTOON International Features. Archived from the original on 2005-10-16. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  3. Neyestani, Mana (24 November 2014). "Khaneh Ashbah". CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Retrieved 5 February 2017 – via Amazon.
  4. Neyestani, Mana (24 November 2014). "Puzzle Asheghaneh Agha-ie Ka". CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Retrieved 5 February 2017 – via Amazon.
  5. Neyestani, Mana (15 September 2013). "Hogopsi: Hekayat-e Agha-ye Ka". H&S Media. Retrieved 5 February 2017 – via Amazon.
  6. Neyestani, Mana (2 December 2014). "An Iranian Metamorphosis". Uncivilized Books. Retrieved 5 February 2017 – via Amazon.
  7. "Channeling Kafka in An Iranian Metamorphosis: Mana Neyestani's Political Nightmare". Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  8. "Mana Neyestani reflects in 'An Iranian Metamorphosis'". Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  9. "Kafka in Iran". 23 August 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  10. Neyestani, Mana (May 19, 2006). "Cartoon" Archived 2017-01-02 at the Wayback Machine. Iranian.com Archives. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  11. Suskhaava Panturkisthaa
  12. Mana Neyestani: The Kafkaesque World Of An Iranian Cartoonist By Golnaz Esfandiari| rferl.org| 10 April 2012
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