Snow Up to the Waist Sitting in the Darkness

Hassan Homayoun (born 1982) is an Iranian poet, fiction writer, and journalist. *Barf Ta Kamer Dar Tariki Neshaste* (Snow Sitting Waist-Deep in the Darkness) and *Auschwitz-e Khosousi-ye Man* (My Personal Auschwitz) are his poetry collections. His literary works and journalism have won awards, including the Journalists’ Poetry Award, the Literary Festival of Tajrobeh Magazine, the Ahmad Shamlou Poetry Award, the Book and Media Festival, and the True Story Award. Hassan Homayoun began his journalism career in the early 2000s in local publications in Marvdasht. In the summer of 2006, he became a reporter for the culture section of the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) and worked with ISNA until 2013. Over more than a decade of journalism, he worked as a staff member for newspapers such as **Aseman**, **Mardom Emrooz**, **Etemaad**, **Ebtikar**, and **Shargh**, as well as magazines including **Aseman**, **Seda**, **Mehnameh**, and **Tajrobeh**, writing about literature, the history of the press, and censorship. This journalist has also published articles, reports, and interviews in publications such as **Iran**, **Roozegar**, **Bahaar**, **Nafeh**, **Shokraneh**, **Vazna**, **Engaar**, and others. He also served as the editorial secretary of the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) for nearly a year. The primary focus of this journalist and author lies in literature and censorship. Over the past decade, he has conducted numerous interviews with ministers of culture and their deputies regarding censorship. Additionally, he garnered international recognition in global journalism competitions with a report on Iran’s black market for books titled *Kaseban-e Sansor* (Merchants of Censorship). During his 15 years in journalism, he has experienced the closure of two newspapers—**Aseman** and **Mardom Emrooz**—in which he was a staff member and one of their literary reporters.