Iranian Canadian illustrator finalist for Governor General Literary Award

Nahid Kazemi is a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards.

She is the illustrator of “The Sour Cherry Tree,” a children’s book centred on loss and love perceived through the eyes of a child.

“It’s a kind of a gift that my second country is giving to me after working a few years in this country,” said Kazemi.

The book, written by Naseem Hrab and illustrated by Kazemi, is the story of a little girl who finds comfort in the memories of her grandfather, a day after his passing.

“It’s about finding grief, finding solace after a grief about losing a loved one,” said Kazemi. “When you lose a loved one, even a small piece of them, a small piece of their stuff, matters for us.”

Even though the passing of a loved one can be a sombre time in a person’s life, Kazemi hopes to teach young readers about the importance of keeping the memories of those we lose “alive” even after they’re gone.

“The slippers and everything that belonged to grandfather, mattered to the girl,” said Kazemi. “Through the story, you realize that the girl finds this solace when she’s recounting the memory.”

As the young girl wanders around her grandfather’s house, she recounts all sorts of different memories she had with him, from various objects found in his room, to his favorite teacup.

Personal connection to Kazemi’s own grandfather

“The Sour Cherry Tree” is a story which Kazemi says feels personal given her own relationship with her Baba Bozorg – grandfather in Farsi.

“I really had a deep connection with my own grandfather when I was a kid, so I could understand the relationship between the grandfather and the granddaughter. So it was comfortable to sketch and to go through all the illustrations,” she said.

Known for her work in “Over the Rooftops, Under the Moon” and “The Old Woman,” Kazemi wanted to reflect the author’s cultural background and close relationship with her own grandfather through her illustrations.

“Personally, when I was a kid, I hated minimal illustrations,” said Kazemi. “I expected pictures included all the details of a book and of the story. Now when I illustrate for kids, I try to bring a lot of details because I remember my own childhood.”

On Nov. 16, the Canada Council for the Arts will announce 14 winners of the Governor General’s Literary Award – one for each of the seven English-language categories and seven French-language categories.

Though Kazemi is grateful for the nomination, she can’t help but feel frustration about the way things are back home in Iran.

“It (the nomination) was a dream that came true,” she said. “But it didn’t happen in the right time, because these days we Iranians, we are not happy that we are actually struggling with a lot of other things. We are actually fighting for our fundamental rights.”