Shafag Mehraliyeva: “Many adore Mir Jalal Pashayev as the king of short stories.”
On Thursday, 3rd February, ADAlilar visited “Edibin Evi” and were hosted by Shafag Mehraliyeva, a teacher at ADA University, and executive director of Literary Support Foundation “House of Writers”. Our journalist Nazrin Guluzada (10AA6) had an opportunity to talk to Shafag xanim.
Nargiz Guluzada (N.G.): When was the “Adibin Evi” Literature Support Foundation founded and what is its mission?
Shafag Mehraliyeva (Sh.M.): “Ədibin Evi” or “ Littérateur House” was originally found in 2017 as a literary space. It hosted a number of great events and short-term academic programs such as “Azerbaijani Culture and Langauge” courses for expat community members, initiated literary discussions, worked with high-schoolers in Baku to get them interested and engaged with the Azerbaijani literature. All of it was hosted in our beautiful building in IcheriSheher – Old City. This is the first residential address in Baku of the renowned writer Mir Jalal. Being born on the Iranian side of Azerbaijan Mir Jalal, as fate had it, moved with his family across the Araz river to Ganja to get educated. Through highs and lows of life he eventually became a teacher and writer, also making his significant mark on Azerbaijani literature as a literary critic and scholar. Although, Mir Jalal is mostly associated with his famous novel “Manifesto of a Young Man”, many adore him as the king of short stories. Those stories depict a few decades of the life of the Azerbaijani society and are full of characters taken from the same life and presented to the reader in a satirical manner. They are funny and honest at the same time, each giving a great message of the importance of values. In 2021, the family of Mir Jalal decided to expand the activities of “Ədibin Evi” turning it into a Literature Support Foundation. In a sense our mission didn’t change much- it is still advocating the importance of reading, particularly Azerbaijani literature, and emphasizing the importance of books in the digital age when screens may be more attractive than pages.
(N.G.) We know that the members of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation are the head of the department of Baku State University Adiba Pashayeva, the professor of that university Tahsin Mutallimov and the rector of ADA University Hafiz Pashayev. You were appointed Executive Director of the Foundation by the decision of the Council. Can you tell us about your activity in the Writer’s house?
(Sh.M.) Frankly, the pandemic has slowed down our pace, but we quickly adapted to our socially distanced life mode. Usually, busy House is mostly quiet these days as we care about the public health safety of our friends and followers above everything. So, since June we started building more online content that will support our mission. One of such projects that seemed to have caught the audience attention is “Ədibin Evindən hekayələr”- “Stories from the Littérateur House”, where we invite famous actors, directors, and generally, intellectuals to read a short story by an Azerbaijani writer on camera. But, they are do not simply read it, they act it out in a style of a one-man theater. Working on this project has been quite an entertaining experience for me. Imagine, you are not a big fan of books or have no patience or simply time to read. You can just tune in to the link and watch the story being read to you. You can enjoy it by yourself, with your friends or even in the classroom and turn it into a discussion subject after. Broadcasted over social media on the Facebook page of ASAN Radio, it keeps accumulating audience even today all across the country. I invite your readers to check the stories out on our YouTube channel.
(N.G.) ADA University has initiated different projects related with education, culture, literature, etc. in Azerbaijan. What is the role of ADA University in this project?
(Sh.M.) Simply put, the idea of reviving “Ədibin Evi” as part of the heritage of Mir Jalal belongs to his elder son, a renowned scientist Arif Pashayev. The historic building in Icheri Sheher was restored with a lot of care and love to our Old City’s history. After the reconstruction project was done, the younger son of the writer who you must know well- Rector of ADA University Hafiz Pashayev took on the job of filling it with the content. As you rightly pointed out in your question, ADA never lacks great content be it in education, culture, or literature. And considering how many bookworms we have around this campus, getting “Ədibin Evi” going in terms of literature events was not difficult.
(N.G.) On 8th November we celebrated the Great Victory Day of the 44-day Patriotic War. We won the war on a battle field, but on the media and information field it continues. How do you assess the role of the media during and after the 44-day war?
(Sh.M.) Well, how long will you allow me to talk? (laughing). This is quite a big topic that is the theme for studying, discussions, and even training at ADA University. The short answer would be the role is “extremely important”. The essence of media is to give people the right information to make the right decisions. But during war times access to the information may be limited due to many reasons. So, the job of media becomes so much harder. However, their mission remains the same. Our 2nd war on the battlefield lasted for only 44 days, but our informational war has been going on for the past 30 years and is not over yet. However, just like on the battlefield, in the informational war we used the right strategies and took the right measures to gain an advantage in media coverage. We changed our truth, hence we changed our story covered by the world media.
(N.G.) Do you think that everything should always be presented as it is in the media, or should there be some kind of censorship?
(Sh.M.) That is a great question. A journalist in his profession always deals with difficult choices- what is ethical, what is not? How far do I go in uncovering all the details? Will this story serve the public or hurt the public? I think, if a journalist understands his/her mission well, which, as I pointed out in my previous answers, is serving the public to help it make the right decisions, being its watchdog, and caring about its literacy and enlightenment, he/she will make the right choice between telling the truth and exercising self-censorship in doing that.
(N.G.) You went to the liberated territories during the April war, but did you visit our lands after the war?
(Sh.M.) Yes, indeed. I visited liberated parts of Jabrayil after the short war in 2016. And of course, having my family roots hailing from Aghdam, I could not wait to see our liberated territories after almost 30 years of separation. I got to visit liberated Aghdam in March of 2021 and my long-awaited dream trip to Shusha happened in June this year. I was overwhelmed with emotions on both of those trips. But also extremely happy and hopeful for the upcoming future that all of us will build there by putting our destroyed by the Armenian occupation Homeland back together. Unfortunately, I could not find a single building standing in Aghdam as it was turned into a “Hiroshima of Caucasus” by the barbaric actions of the enemy. And I could not gain access to the street where the house of my family used to be as Aghdam was filled with landmines during my trip. Our entire delegation was being very cautious in moving around. It was devastating to realize that my family members who were waiting for this day the most, including my grandmother, uncles, aunts, and my own father didn’t get to live long enough to see liberated Qarabagh. But, I was happy that from now on our children and grandchildren will be able to live in peace and prosperity there, just like in the rest of the regions in Azerbaijan.
(N.G.) What should be done for the development of the media in Azerbaijan?
(Sh.M.) ADA University is answering this question by newly launched Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Digital Media. It is a new academic program with great prospects. We are going to build it up to raise a new generation of professionals in the media field in the country.
(N.G.) Do you think that information technologies are used enough in Azerbaijan at the right times and places?
(Sh.M.) I think information technologies is a limitless world of opportunities. And certainly, not explored enough yet. But our School of IT and Engineering is training those professionals who, I hope, will keep uncovering those opportunities on the national level. Technology is sprinkled into every aspect of our lives these days. As much as we love to see it make our communication easy through social media, we must also try to incorporate technology more into other spheres in our lives, including medicine, social services, security, education. The sky is a limit here.
(N.G.) We know that you are a big fan of Azerbaijani pianist Chingiz Sadykhov. Can you share your most interesting memory about him?
(Sh.M.) Yes, during my times as a journalist in the States, I got to meet Maestro Sadykhov and become friends with their family. Chingiz muellim and his lovely spouse Jeyran khanim were a great couple. Even today, years after Maestro passed away, at my every trip to California, I visit Jeyran khanim and we remember fondly Maestro and his fascinating life. Visiting their house in San Francisco and feeling the warmth of their hospitality was a precious chance to “feel at home away from home”. We always had great conversations about Azerbaijani music, culture and of course, Maestro shared with us his endless memories from music tours and working with the biggest stars of the Azerbaijani musical stage like Rashid Behbudov, Muslum Magomayev and others. All of our meetings had to have live music in his performance. He adored his Homeland and missed his hometown Shusha a lot. I am sure his soul is resting in peace these days knowing that his lovely Shusha is free now.
(N.G.) We have a journalists division in ADAlilar school magazine, which I represent. As journalists, we are taking our very first steps. What would you recommend to those who want to become a professional journalist?
(Sh.M.) I would recommend staying curious all the time and consider every member of ADA community as a story waiting to be told. As they say, everyone is an expert in something. We just need to find out in what. I hope they will keep uncovering with their work the unique diversity and talent represented at ADA community
(N.G.) Can ADA school students come and visit the “Writer’s house”?
(Sh.M.) Absolutely yes. I am sure the visit will turn into another great story to be told in your paper. But just like any professional journalist, you must come prepared, having researched the life of Mir Jalal and read a few of his short stories.
(N.G.) Thank you!
Nazrin Guluzada, 10AA6
