TEHRAN -- A language can travel farther than its speakers. It crosses borders in books and classrooms, in poems memorized by heart and stories passed from one generation to another. Persian has done so for centuries. Now, the Saadi Foundation is inviting some of those who have learned the language far from Iran to give something back: their own words.
To mark the National Day of Persian Poetry and Literature, the Saadi Foundation has announced an international competition titled “20 Words, One Piece of Writing,” inviting Persian-language learners and enthusiasts around the world to write a short piece about Iran, poetry and Persian literature.
The competition begins with a prescribed vocabulary. Participants are required to use 20 words: history, world, Iran, civilization, culture, art, Persian literature, poet, writer, respect, peace, love, freedom, affection, independence, Shahriar, importance, interested and wish.
Taken individually, the words are simple. Together, they open a much broader field of meaning: a country viewed through its history and civilization, and a literary tradition in which the intimate language of love and affection has often existed alongside the public vocabulary of freedom, independence and peace.
But the submission is not simply a written exercise. Participants must present their work in
 Persian in a video no longer than two minutes, recorded vertically. At the beginning of the video, they must introduce themselves by name and state the country where they live.
The competition is open to Persian-language learners and others interested in the language. Following the review of submissions, five participants will be selected as winners and receive prizes. The competition secretariat has set Sept. 17, 2026, as the deadline for submissions.
There is something fitting about the competition’s modest scale. Twenty words are not much to work with, and two minutes leaves little room for elaboration. Yet Persian literature has long demonstrated how much can be held in a small space: a couplet can carry a lifetime, a story can open onto a civilization, and a single word can acquire the weight of centuries.
For those who take part, the challenge is therefore more than using 20 words correctly. It is about making those words speak — and discovering how much of a language, a culture and a connection to Iran can be contained in just a few minutes.