Niloufar Talebi performs selections from BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World with musicians Bobak Salehi, Nat Hulskamp, Chaz Hastings, Fabod Sedeh, Basheer Badii and Parisa Rabii at the Iranian Festival in Portland.
The Iranian Literary Arts Festival was made possible in part by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation.
This anthology features 18 Iranian poets whose work varies dramatically in style, tone and theme, including Amir-Hossein Afrasiabi’s lyric poems, erotic divertissements by Ziba Karbassi, rigorously formal poetry by Yadollah Royaii, experimental poems by Naanaam, powerful polemics by Maryam Huleh, and the personal-epic work of Shahrouz Rashid. Eclectic and accessible, these vibrant poems deepen the often limited awareness of Iranian identity today by not only introducing readers to contemporary Iranian poetry, but also expanding the canon of significant writing in the Persian language. Belonging offers a glimpse at a complex culture through some of its finest literary talents.
“Niloufar Talebi’s accomplishment in gathering the poetry of the Iranian diaspora is unprecedented and breathtaking. It is as if she has, by force of commitment and vision, and by way of cultural hunger, bequeathed a new literary heritage to Iran and the world….”
–Carolyn Forché
Editor of Against Forgetting: Twentieth Century Poetry of Witness
“Niloufar Talebi has accomplished the ultimate magic trick in her clean and modern translation. She has made the work of modern Persian poets read like original English … an unparalled contribution.”
–Willis Barnstone
Author of With Borges on an Ordinary Evening in Buenos Aires
“Poetry is a world art because of brilliant editors and translators like Niloufar Talebi … Here are the poets, in all their power, defiance, dignity, wildness, and lyric grace, scattered across the earth, yet united in this book…”
–Martín Espada
Pulitzer Prize nominee and author of The Republic of Poetry
“With literary skill and passion, Niloufar Talebi overcome the obstacles of matter, time and geographical space to produce a remarkable collection of Iranian poetry in diaspora … BELONGING is a major contribution to the recognition of contemporary Iranian literature in the West, to the appreciation of diaspora poetry by Persian-speakers everywhere, and to the important project of producing good translations form rich but under-represented literary canons for the anglophone reader. ”
–Nahid Mozaffari
Editor of the PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literature
Contemporary Poetry in Translation:
Paul Vangelisti, Hélène Cardona, and Niloufar Talebi read their translations of contemporary poetry and discuss their processes of translation.
Sponsored by Tebot Bach
May 2nd @ 8 PM
Golden West College, Community Room 102
Huntington Beach, CA
Free Parking and Admission
The SF Examiner calls it “…the festival’s crown jewel…is ICARUS/RISE, which bridges the legend of the mythological figure with the migration of Iranians in search for freedom…”
ICARUS/RISE is a provocative and emotional multimedia theatrical performance of new Iranian poetry, translated, created and performed by Niloufar Talebi, with original score by Bobak Salehi, and choreography and video by Alex Ketley, featuring Chloe Felesina as Icarus. Woven of poems featured in BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World (North Atlantic Books), and connecting the myth of Icarus with the solitary journey of the artist/immigrant in the quest for freedom, it tells the 30-year story of the migration of Iranians. ICARUS/RISE begins after the fall and is the journey to self-possession, featuring the emerging voices of Iranian poetry, including Ziba Karbassi, Granaz Moussavi, Maryam Huleh, Abbas Saffari, Jamshid Moshkani and Shahrouz Rashid, the poet of “Icarus”, as well as the poetry of Mina Assadi, and Yadollah Royaii.
Based on the poetry in BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World, ICARUS/RISE is inspired by the Iranian spoken word tradition of ‘Naghali‘, which is practiced in the streets, cafes, public rituals, or ‘art music’ stage. By giving this spoken word tradition new content (new poetry in BELONGING) — rather than its usual content of classical Persian poetry and myths — and fusing it with western theatrical elements, ICARUS/RISE gives voice to hybrid-Iranians, reflecting their experience in contemporary society.
This has never been done before, certainly not in translation, and not in the west. Many younger Iranian-Americans have never been exposed to and don’t have familiarity with their heritage tradition of Naghali and may not realize that global phenomenon like Hip Hop theater or poetry slams have cultural precedents in the Iranian traditions of ‘Mosha’ereh’ and ‘Naghali’. In the same way that Ezra Pound’s translations of Chinese poetry helped shape 20th C. American poetry, and Stanislovski’s writings on acting shaped the American “method”, our goal with projects such as ICARUS/RISE is to help introduce an Iranian theatrical/literary contribution to the American artistic landscape.
Click here for more info about traditional story-telling in Asia and the Middle East.
ICARUS/RISE is available for touring. Contact us for bookings.
The making of ICARUS/RISE
Video Clips from ICARUS/RISE
November 2007:
