It has been a pleasure blogging for the Best American Poetry this week. As promised, here are two poems by Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad. Mates Night comes then darkness past night’s darkness-- eyes hands then, rhythmic breathing in – out... Continue reading

The 1979 Iranian revolution was a people’s revolution hijacked. Whether Muslim, Jewish, socialist or atheist, all fought side-by-side to end one tyrannical regime to only find themselves in the clutches of another, even more ruthless and oppressive. But in a... Continue reading

Today, I’d like to share with you a poem by Iranian poet Sohrab Sepehri (1928-1980), a gifted painter and poet who drew his images from eastern mysticism. I think it’s a fitting poem to read one day after the presidential elections. It’s a poem that in its own timeless way addresses many issues we grapple with today, issues such as the environment, United State’s foreign policy, and our sense of responsibility towards each other and towards our fellow human beings around the world. Continue reading

At a time when literature and the arts, and just about everything else in Iran were dominated by men, when very few women were respected as poets, a young woman by the name of Forugh Farrokhzad (1935-1967) began writing and publishing poems that radiated with sensuality, pushing the boundaries of what could be uttered or put on paper by women. Continue reading

Literature in translation is a tool necessary in building bridges that connect people of different cultures and religious persuasions. Continue reading