Contemporary Persian Poetry in Translation & Song
Contemporary Persian Poetry in Translation
Thursday, February 12
Doors: 6:30pm
Event: 7pm
at 2220 Arts+Archives
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Shaped by different histories, countries, and generations, the poetry of Ahmad Shamlou (1925–2000) and Nadia Anjuman (1980–2005) emerges from a shared condition: the pressure placed on voice and imagination under political and social constraint. Bringing together two translators, this event explores how each poet forged a language that insists on truth and interior freedom even when expression carried risk. Drawing on Elegies of the Earth: Selected Poems by Ahmad Shamlou and Smoke Drifts: Selected Poems of Nadia Anjuman (World Poetry Books, 2025), Niloufar Talebi and Diana Arterian reflect on translation as a form of cultural mediation and historical continuity, one that sustains poetic life beyond borders, regimes, and generations. The event includes bilingual readings and music, and considers how these poets offer vital models for writers today, including those in the West navigating increasingly subtle and systemic forms of censorship.
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Niloufar Talebi is an author, award-winning translator, and interdisciplinary artist. She edited and translated Elegies of the Earth: Selected Poems by Ahmad Shamlou (World Poetry Books, 2025), the most comprehensive bilingual English edition of the Nobel Prize–nominated Iranian poet, supported by a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship. Her Shamlou-related projects include the memoir Self-Portrait in Bloom and the opera Abraham in Flames (music by Aleksandra Vrebalov). Talebi is also the editor and translator of Belonging: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World. A Fulbright U.S. Scholar and TEDx speaker, she teaches writing at Stanford Continuing Studies.
Diana Arterian holds a PhD in Literature & Creative Writing from the University of Southern California and is the author of the poetry collections Agrippina the Younger (Northwestern University Press) and Playing Monster :: Seiche, which received a starred review in Publishers Weekly. Her work has been recognized with fellowships from the Banff Centre, Millay Arts, Yaddo, and others. A Poetry Editor at Noemi Press, she is the 2026 Lurie Distinguished Visiting Professor at San José State University. Diana writes “The Annotated Nightstand” column at Lit Hub and lives in Los Angeles.