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
7th Sadegh Hedayat Literary Award
The 7th Sadegh Hedayat Literary Awards which were organized by the Hedayat office took place last week at the house of Mr Jahangir and Shideh Hedayat in Tehran, in the presence of the gem of Iran's lady of letters Mrs. Simin Behbahani and members of the Hedayat family. -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 2/18/09
Tales From the Zirzameen: The story of an American falling in love with Iran -- continued...
From the time I first announced that I was publishing a book about my experiences in Iran a year ago, my book has finally been published. I had no idea of how long this process takes. One unexpected benefit of the long delay was that it gave me the opportunity to add an epilogue to my book about my recent return to Iran which gave it a better ending and a full circle; a sense of closure and a surprise ending. -Brian H. Appleton - 2/13/09
Iran's Literary Voices
The history of modern Persian literature is closely aligned with some of the oppositional movements that culminated in the 1979 revolution. The origins of modern Persian writing are inseparable from a preoccupation that literature speak to the concerns of the masses. -Nasrin Rahimieh - 2/12/09
A Night of Persian Poetry in New York Featuring Taha Ebrahimi
This month's reader will be Taha Ebrahimi, whose award-winning writing has appeared in Creative Nonfiction, The Seattle Times, RIVET Magazine, Elan Magazine, Whitehot Magazine... - 2/12/09
Becoming Visible in Iran: Women in Contemporary Iranian Society
The state of women in Islamic societies is the subject of much interest and heated debate, even as representations in the media rely on inadequate information and misperceptions. Becoming Visible in Iran disputes the widespread stereotypes about Muslim women prevalent in the West, providing a vivid account of young women in contemporary Iran. - 2/8/09
Iran Announces Winners of The International Book of the Year Awards
Nigel Tallis and J.E. Curtis (Britain), Adel Theodor Khoury (Lebanon), Robert Morrison (the United States), Mohsen Reza Heidari (India), Vali Ahmadi (Afghanistan), Yasin Muhammad (South Africa), and Manuchehr Moshtaq Khorasani (Iran) were among the award winners at the international section. - 2/8/09
Persian Poetry reading by Ziba Karbasi in San Mateo, California
Ziba Karbasi was born in 1974 in Tabriz, Iran. She left Iran in 1989 and now lives between London and Paris. She has published five volumes of poetry in Farsi, all outside Iran, and continues to write prolifically. Sunday, February 08 - 2/3/09
Hans Wilhelm, distinguished children's author: I wish children were our teachers!
The world of children is disparately different with ours. Their world is happy, colorful, immaculate and flawless while ours is inextricably blended with crimes, brutality, wars and conflicts. They don't think about hitting, harming or betraying each other in treacherous ways; just planning to be cheerful with together, sharing whatever they obtain and "smiling". -Interview by Ahmadreza Tavassoli, Kourosh Ziabari - 1/30/09
Iranian national library keen to support foreign Persian studies
Iran National Library and Archive (INLA) tries to render Persian sources for foreign Iranologists via signing agreements with other countries libraries and foreign universities. - 1/27/09
Berlin to Hold Shahnameh Congress
Germany is to hold a Shahnameh Congress in a bid to honor the 1000th anniversary of the creation of the Persian literary masterpiece by Abolqasem Ferdowsi. - 1/22/09
We want people to focus on Khayyam's nationality: American curator
Harry Ransom Center, which is a cultural, artistic institution located in the University of Texas at Austin, announced last week that it will be inaugurating the exhibition of "Persian Sensation" from Feb 3 to Aug 2. By Ahmadreza Tavassoli, Kourosh Ziabari - 1/18/09
Scholars elaborate on influence of Persian on world literature
At the congress, Chinese scholar Yidan Wang from the Institute of Iranian Culture Studies at Peking University likened Persian literature to fire, which is vital and vigorous and includes many stories of passionate love... -Mehr - 1/17/09
The thief who stole pages from history
Wealthy businessman Farhad Hakimzadeh has been jailed for two years for stealing pages from rare books in the British Library - BBC - 1/17/09
The Persian Sensation: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in the West
The Harry Ransom Center's exhibition "The Persian Sensation: The 'Rub�iy�t of Omar Khayy�m' in the West' explores how a translation of a Persian poem went from obscurity to celebrity in British and American culture. The exhibition runs from Feb. 3 to Aug. 2, 2009, at the Harry Ransom Center, a humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin. - 1/15/09
Call for Submissions: The Atlanta Review 2010 IRAN issue
Iranian Poets writing in Iran or in Diaspora (or non-Iranian poets with poems about Iran) submit three to four poems, or translations of poems by an Iranian poet. - 1/15/09
A Night of Persian Poetry in New York Featuring Nahid Mozaffari
Nahid received her PhD in History and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University. She has taught courses on the history, culture, politics and literature of the Middle East and North Africa at various universities in the United States and Europe. - 1/7/09
|
