Iranian translator Mehdi Sahabi dies at 66
The Iranian writer, painter and translator Mehdi Sahabi died of heart attack in Paris on Monday. He was 66. - 11/10/09
Morteza Baharloo, Noted Iranian American Author, Joins The Board Of The Asian American Writers' Workshop
The Asian American Writers' Workshop, one of the most prominent Asian American groups in the country, announced the confirmation of Morteza Baharloo to the Workshop board. Baharloo is the author of the novel The Quince Seed Potion and is the first Iranian American to join the Workshop's board. - 11/10/09
Iranian Publishers Hit by Government Curbs
Even the Tehran International Book Fair, one of the country's most important cultural events, was not impervious to the election buzz. The fair, which took place about a month before the elections, became a venue for criticism of Ahmadinejad's cultural policies. Renowned writers and publishers complained in interviews about the difficulty of obtaining publishing permits. They said that permission had been revoked for many books that had previously been allowed. -Pedram Fathi, Tehran - 11/7/09
MTV-U's Poet Laureate: Simin Behbahani
MTV (Music Television) "University" has selected Simin Behbahani, "the poet who never sold her soul or her pen," to be its second poet laureate. For a visually challenged 82-years-young Iranian, how cool is that? Beginning Monday, Nov. 2nd Behbahani's poems will be featured on MTV-U in a series of 19 short films. -Scott Harrop - 11/4/09
Book: Angella Nazarian's "Life As a Visitor"
In Life as a Visitor, Nazarian and her family travel to nearly twenty exotic locales, and it is during these travels that Nazarian begins to piece together her experiences of leaving Iran and adjusting to America and its western culture, and finding peace and herself along the way. - 10/12/09
Friday (Sunday) Nights
Trying to deal with a heavy Friday (having the same air as Sundays in the West), quite expectable considering what has been going on in the past few months, so quiet that even the park nearby appears to be almost vacant compared to other Friday nights, judging from the number of cars passing by, as though it is already over midnight, I appealed to the Oracle of Hafez, as it is a tradition among Iranians, and this was the answer -Roya Monajem, Tehran - 10/5/09
Samira Rekabdar's Silent Voice
When I arrived home, I had a special feeling. I opened the book quickly and started reading. The first page was a short history about Samira's life. It was then that I found out why she couldn't talk to me. Since she was inflicted with Cerebral Paralysis from childhood. Then I got to her beautiful poems. -Minoo Minaie, Tehran - 10/2/09
One hundred Iranian poets in support of protesters
One hundred Iranian poets have boycotted all government literary awards to protest the oppression of their people's movement toward "peace and democracy" in the post-election events. - 9/22/09
Iranian Literary Icon Shafiei Kadkani to join Princeton University
Shafiei Kadkani is a professor of literature at the University of Tehran and is renowned for his work on literary criticism and modern Persian poetry. According to mowjcamp.com web site, however, Shafiei Kadkani has left Iran for good and has decided to live in the US. No reason has been given for the decision. - 9/10/09
My Prison, My Home: One Woman's Story of Captivity in Iran
My Prison, My Home is the harrowing true story of Iranian-American scholar Haleh Esfandiari's arrest on false charges and subsequent incarceration in Evin Prison, the most notorious penitentiary in Ahmadinejad's Iran. - 9/6/09
Short Story: Van Gogh's Cousin
I turned off the vacuum cleaner, lay down spread eagled on the ground and took a deep breath. I had been running like a dog since early morning to get the house clean. Nazanine picked up the plate of cheese puffs that was in front of Nima and ran into the kitchen with it leaving an orange trail of crumbs behind her. -Farideh Khorrami - 9/1/09
Forough Farrokhzad's anthology published in Kuwait
Arabic version of anthology of Forough Farrokhzad, noted Iranian poetess, was published for the first time in Kuwait - 8/31/09
Mahbod Seraji: Thank You, My Friend
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji was a recent Bookreporter.com Bets On… selection. Set in Iran in the 1970s, as the country is on the verge of revolution, it's a story about growing up, discovering love and awakening to the reality of a new way of life. I was especially taken with the vivid characters, engaging descriptions of time and place and the excellent pacing of the story. -ReadingGroupGuides - 8/26/09
Book: Returning to Iran
Thirty years after its revolution Iran continues to baffle the world. As changes within Iran and improved relations with the west become distinct possibilities, the experiences of the years since the revolution gain in relevance and significance. Returning to Iran, published on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Iranian revolution, reflects on these years while placing them in a greater historical context. - 8/4/09
Short Story: Pliers
Yes, in that interview you said that since you don't write of a tree or a valley as it really exists so your tree or your valley is actually giving the finger to the real tree or valley and that that's what sets them straight. You believe, and now I'm quoting, that your trees and valleys are your way of slighting them. -Shahram Sheydayi - 7/31/09
Bay Area Writers To Raise Voices, Funds for People of Iran
The Association of Iranian American Writers (AIAW) will host a literary reading and musical performance on Sunday, July 26 to express solidarity with the people of Iran, whose protest over the June elections has captured the hearts and imagination of the world. - 7/9/09
In memory of a girl who loved music and singing
She was a young woman, called Neda -- Known only to her family and close friends -- Her “calling” came one sunny day near her home. -- Now the whole world knows her by her beautiful eyes --- That looks through blood, courage, innocence and death. -Amir Fardi - 6/29/09
Poem: This is the Time
Fallen stars! We deeply mourn you. Who made your fate? -- Jackals, jackals. -Mali Mostoufi, New York - 6/28/09
A Poem: Salvation
I am asleep, Quietly. I dream: With no words, No pictures. A rabid bearded wolf, Sitting on my chest -Mali Mostoufi, New York - 6/23/09
Book: Censoring an Iranian Love Story
From one of Iran's most acclaimed and controversial contemporary writers, his first novel to appear in English—a dazzlingly inventive work of fiction that opens a revelatory window onto what it's like to live, to love, and to be an artist in today's Iran. - 6/1/09
Short Story: What a Shovel Could Have Done
It all started one night when I suddenly woke up and realized that I was feeling really well. I felt so good that I was shaking hands with everyone. I have no idea where all those imaginary people whom I was shaking hands with had come from. -Shahram Sheydayi - 5/19/09
Happy Khayyam Day
May 18 marks the birthday of the great Iranian poet, astronomer, and mathematician Omar Khayyam (1048-1131). Iranians annually celebrate the occasion as Khayyam Day. - 5/17/09
Photos: Ferdowsi Day Celebrations in Tous, Iran
Iranians across the country have celebrated the national day of the highly revered Iranian epic poet Ferdowsi on May 15. Also, a special program was held at the tomb of Ferdowsi in the city of Tous. - 5/16/09
Book: Rooftops of Tehran
This stunning literary debut (by Mahbod Seraji) paints a vivid portrait of growing up, discovering love, and awakening to the reality of life in a nation on the verge of revolution in the 1970s. Rooftops of Tehran opens in a middle-class neighborhood in Iran's sprawling capital city. - 5/16/09
WAR STORIES: A Letter to the Saad Family
The first finder or finders of this letter are kindly requested to deliver its contents in any way possible to the family of "Saad Abd al-Jabbar," a member of the 23rd Battalion of the Special Republican Guard Forces of Iraq; the letter is from the forces under control of the Third Army of Basra. -Habib Ahmadzadeh, Tehran - 5/15/09
A Vanishing Breed, Iranian Satirist Pokes Fun From Exile
Ebrahim Nabavi is a diminutive man with an oversized sense of humor -- and a sarcastic wit that has twice landed him in jail. Through his writings, Nabavi gleefully sheds light on what he regards as some of Iran's paradoxes. - 5/14/09
Filmmaker Shirin Neshat Brings Acclaimed Iranian Novel to Screen
"The deep green garden, its walls plastered with mud, faced the river with the village behind it." This is the opening line to Women Without Men, Shahrnush Parsipur's highly praised and controversial 1989 novel of five women from very different backgrounds and experiences who find freedom and refuge — physical, psychological and spiritual — in a mystical garden outside Tehran. - 5/13/09
Iranian Translator and Literary Critic Reza Seyed-Hosseini Dies at 83
Born in 1926 in Ardabil, he has penned many academic treatises including renowned "Literary Schools" and he has translated works by Albert Camus, Andre Malraux, Jean-Paul Sartre and Marguerite Duras from French into Persian. Reza Seyyed Hosseini was chosen as Iran's 2001 eternal figure in the field of translation. - 5/6/09
150-year anniversary of translation of Khayyam's Rubaiyat by Fitz Gerald
Year 2009 marks both the 200-year anniversary of birthday of Edward Fitz Gerald and the 150-year anniversary of the first translation of Khayyam's poetry by him. Hakim Omar Khayyam, born in 1048 in Neyshapur, then capital of Seljuk Dynasty, in modern day Khorasan, was famous as a mathematician during his own life time, nearly a thousand years before he became a famous poet in the West through the hands of Fitz Gerald. -A. J. Cave - 5/4/09
Supposed Hafiz poem recited by McGuinty turns out to be fake
During the Nowruz ceremony at Queen's Park, Mr. Dalton McGuinty, the Premier of Ontario, decided to take this fascination to a higher level reciting a poem of Hafiz that was faced with sheer applause by Iranians. -Arash Azizi, Salam Toronto - 4/24/09
Book: Everything I needed to know in life I learned in Football (Soccer)
Every person on this planet is ultimately required to learn about life from another human being, and somebody inspires us all in this life time one way or the other... I discovered my inspiration in football! - 4/22/09
Saadi Day Commemorated in Shiraz
The Saadi Day is being commemorated in Shiraz province on Tuesday. Several poets, writers, Shiraz official authorities and Saadi admirers will attend the ceremony. On this day visiting Saadi's mausoleum is free of charge for all visitors. - 4/21/09
Iran National Library to boost ties with Asian, European institutions
The Iran National Library and Archive will sign memorandums of understanding with libraries in several Asian and European countries in near future, INLA director Ali-Akbar Ash'ari told ISNA. - 4/18/09
Iranian woman wins Japan literary award for newcomers
Iranian author Shirin Nezammafi's novel titled 'Shiroi Kami' (white paper) wins the 108th Bungakukai Shinjinsho (new authors) award for her first novella in Japanese. - 4/17/09
Persian Poetry Night Featuring Parviz Nezami: April 15 in New YorK
Our featured reader will be Parviz Nezami, a civil engineer and graduate of the University of Manchester England. He is a former professor of the National University of Iran and has been involved in major civil engineering projects for the past forty years in Iran, Canada and United States. - 4/13/09
Tehran to hold seminar on world's Persian-speaking female poets
Tehran's Al-Zahra University is to hold a seminar to review the centennial poetry of world Persian-speaking female poets in late May. - 4/12/09
Memoirs of Iranian songstress Pari Zanganeh published
"Beyond Darkness," the memoirs written by the prominent Iranian vocalist Pari Zanganeh, was unveiled during a ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday. - 4/10/09
Critical distance
I'm made nervous by people who "devour" books, let alone "inhale" them, as Azar Nafisi claims to. It's also difficult to trust teachers of literature who tell you that "we discussed" books or "we agreed" about them when they usually mean that they talked uninterruptedly for two hours and no one in the class demurred.-Jane Miller, Guardian - 4/6/09
The Poetry of Iranian Women: A Contemporary Anthology
Inside The Poetry of Iranian Women: A Contemporary Anthology lives a treasure house of brilliantly polished, multihued gems waiting to be unearthed. Kalbasi enthralls us with an album of writing that glimmers underneath a veil of repression and intolerance and gives us a glimpse into the experiences and lives of women who are our sisters, daughters, mothers, neighbors, and friends. - 4/3/09
Swedish translation of Rumi's poems published
On the eve of the Persian New Year a selection of Jalal al-din Rumi's poems has been published in Swedish. The book is entitled "Vassflöjtens sång" (The Song of the Reed) and includes the most famous poems of "Divan-e Shams" and "Masnavi-ye ma'navi". - 4/1/09
Azar Nafisi: Things I've Been Silent About
Azar Nafisi, author of the beloved international bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran, now gives us a stunning personal story of growing up in Iran. Memories of her life lived in thrall to a powerful and complex mother are set against the background of the country's political revolution. - 3/30/09
From Tehran to Baker Street
Iranians are enthusiastic about Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie's Poirot and many other western detectives such as Georges Simenon's Maigret partly because for Iranians these stories evoke popular images of the west but also because Iran – despite having a huge amount of poetry in its literature – has virtually no history of detective fiction. -Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Guardian - 3/28/09
Ancient Iran, a pictorial history for youth is on its way into public libraries in North America and needs your help
When the idea of producing high quality books for young readers about Iranian history and culture was conceived, one of the first and most important goals was to get these books into public and school libraries in North America. For many reasons beyond the scope of discussion here and despite the importance of Iran in the world stage for centuries, Iranian history does not have its rightful place amongst the history of civilizations. -Massoume Price - 3/12/09
Book - No Rouz: Our Persian New Year
With 338,000 Iranian-Americans in the United States today, and so little available about this ancient holiday, Kudakon Publishing is pleased to announce No Rouz: Our Persian New Year, a nonfiction children's picture book explaining the rich traditions of Persian New Year. - 3/12/09
Literary Tranquilizers
I have coined this title for referring to my collection of the most potent, popular, brief and soothing words of wit and wisdom mainly Persian. My aim is to provide an alternative for ever-increasing trend in substance abuse or myriad of over-the counter or prescribed pills that are popped daily to cope with increasing stressful conditions associated with our 'modern' technological age. -Ali A. Parsa - 3/11/09
Winners of 3rd Parvin Etesami Literary Awards announced
Winners of the Third Parvin Etesami Literary Awards were announced at the ceremony at Tehran's Vahdat Hall on Tuesday. Etesami (1907-40) was one of the most prominent Persian poets of the 20th century. She composed her first poem in a classical style at the age of eight. - 3/4/09
Conference: Prison Literature and Cultural Politics in the Middle East
A literary conference hosted in New York City by ArteEast, the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at NYU, and the Eugene Lang College at the New School for Liberal Arts - 3/3/09
Azadeh Moaveni talks about "Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran"
A longtime Middle East correspondent for Time Magazine—now living in Tehran— offers a stunning and unforgettable window into the maelstrom of Iranian life and gives voice to the Iranian psyche. - 2/21/09
Veteran Iranian Linguists Honored
Veteran Iranian linguists were honored on the sideline of the inaugural ceremony of the Second Conference on Linguistics, Inscriptions and Texts in Iran's National Museum. Leading linguists honered at the event included Yadollah Samareh, Ali Mohammad Haq-Shenas, Katyoun Fardapour, Zohreh Zarshenas and Mohammad Dabir-Moqaddam and Shirin Bayani. - 2/21/09
Nine countries at 3rd Fajr International Poetry Festival
At the event, poets from Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt will be honored for introducing Persian poetry to the world. - 2/21/09
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