This novel has been written based on an Iranian classical literary masterpiece, ‘Khosro and Shirin’, an epic poem recited by Nezami Ganjavi. Recreating this classical work, Hasanzadeh has tried to encourage the teens to read classical literary masterpieces. Shirin’s Times is indeed a novel but narrates an Iranian warrior’s love story in a simplified diction. It is the love story between Khosro, Shirin and Farhad, which is a very famous myth among Iranians. This book has gained 5 turtles out of 6 in the Flying Turtles list. It was nominated for the Flying Turtles Award in 2015.

(He is one of the authors of the HCAA 2018 Shortlist – IBBY). He was born in a low-income family in Abadan, 1962. His childhood and youth passed smoothly; He was absorbed in playing with friends, little discoveries, and theater. Participating in theater classes opened a new door to him. His first writing was a play in the performance of which he himself acted. Little by little he got interested in writing stories and poems. He felt I could speak out this way. But the outburst of the war between Iran and Iraq changed everything all of a sudden. He witnessed war’s destroying strokes for one whole month. He lost many friends, too. His family and he had to leave our hometown. The eight-year war changed his life entirely. From 18 years of age to 24 He did different jobs to help his father keeping the family up. Here is a list of them: photography, repairing bicycles, laboring in a textile factory, construction electric work, forging, masonry, street vending and working in a confectionary. Meanwhile he wrote stories and poems. But, it was not possible to get books published because of the war. Getting married made his life stable. And his life found a distinct direction when he decided to write the stories he made up for his little son for all children. Since then he has been writing stories and poems for children and young adults (80 books.) he has also been continuously active in different domains regarding children and young adults’ literature. He is a founder of the Iranian Association of Writers for Children and Youth and had also been a board member for two terms. He has received 30 national awards for his works, and has been selected as a candidate for the 2017 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.