Iranian writer, poet and left-wing activist, he was an active member of the Iranian Writers Association. He was murdered during the chain of extrajudicial murders of progressive intellectuals…
Mehrdad Fallah comes from Northern Iran. He was born in 1960 in Fashoo Poshteh – “a small village . . . five fingers away from the Caspian”, as…
Khalida Jarrar is a feminist, human rights activist and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. She lives in Ramallah, but has been held by Israel in administrative…
It is possible…It is possible at least sometimes…It is possible especially nowTo ride a horseInside a prison cellAnd run away… It is possible for prison wallsTo disappear,For the…
translated by Stephen Watts and Ziba Karbassi little morning starare you here withyour star-gaze gone?little wrenare you staying in the busheswhen you go to the skies?little silver coinare…
I will greet the sun again I will greet the sun again,greet the stream that once flowed in me,the clouds that were my unfurling thoughts,the aching growth of…
Keep calling me! Sweet is your voice. It is the green Growing beyond the companionship of sorrow. In the scopes of this silent era I am lonelier than…
Waiting The song I came to singremains unsung to this day.I have spent my days in stringingand in unstringing my instrument. The time has not come true,the words…
آن سوتر جوانی با چهره استخوانی و ته ريش با پيرهنی جر خورده بر سه پايه ای كنار حوض شكسته سِنج ميزند سَنج دمای پريده از شيشه لب…
“I’m Explaining A Few Things,” “and ever since then fire, gunpowder ever since, and ever since then blood Bandits with airplanes and with Moors, bandits with finger-rings and…
Translated from Farsi by Sheida Dayani Ahmad Shamlou (1925-2000) The Secret A secret was with me; I told the mountain. A secret was with me; I told the…
Translated by Sheida Dayani On a Moon-Lit Night On a moon-lit night Moon is in my dream It takes me with it Alley to alley, Into the vineyards…
Were I a Martyr Trans. Darya Ali andAlana Marie Levinson-LaBrosse I want no flowers, no epoch of union, no dawn of disunion. I want no flowers for I…
Letters From A Man In Solitary 1 I carved your name on my watchband with my fingernail. Where I am, you know, I don’t have a pearl-handled jackknife…
My beloved Has a Narcissus flower in mouth,Her souvenir From the prisons of Iran. I know that nightly From behind bars One can see the trace of flowers…
The people’s hand was wounded The people’s foot The people’s back was wounded So their sky would rain stars. When their sky rained stars The people’s body was…
Nashwa Gowanlock Zeina Hashem Beck sits in her living room in Dubai, wrapping vine leaves, wara’ ‘enab, over a stuffing of minced meat and rice, which she will…
Zêdan Xelef, translated by David Shook and Bryar Bajalan Non-Broadcast News Today a fire broke out in two tents The families shouted, the children cried and ran bare-assed…
Celebrated Iraqi playwright and actor Yusuf al-Ani (1927-2016) is at the center of the latest issue of the Journal of Contemporary Iraq and the Arab World, which has…
Said Soltanpour, poet, playwright and director changed the pace of the revolution that toppled the Shah. It was mid October 1977. Already the voices of protest against the…
Cigerxwin (“The bleeding heart”), is a pseudonym for Sheikmous Hasan. He came from north Kurdistan and was mainly known as a poet. He made a great impact on…
Saghf (Persian: سقف)(Literary: Roof) is one of the most beautiful Iranian songs. It was first performed by Farhad Mehrad in the 1970s. The lyrics are composed by Iraj…
Your eyes are a thorn in my heart Inflicting pain, yet I cherish that thorn And shield it from the wind. I sheathe it in my flesh, I…
First I built on sand, then I built on rock. When the rock caved inI no longer built on anything.Then I often built again On sand and rock,…
Solmaz Sharif. Suitcases Suitcases of dried limes, dried figs, pomegranate paste, parsley laid in the sun, burnt honey, sugar cubes hardened on a baking sheet. Suitcases of practical…
A voice from the dark called out, ‘The poets must give us imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar imagination of…
Ariel Rodriguez. Sometimes, the best way to understand the complexity of a conflict is through art. Words can echo in people’s hearts as much as images can inspire…
English Translations of selected Poems and Poetry of the great Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad فروغ فرخزاد Forugh, one of the most famous Persian Women poets died in a…
Robyn Creswell. In March, 2011, when civil protests broke out in cities and towns across Syria, the country’s most famous poet, Adonis—who is in his eighties and has…
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