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Niloufar Talebi reads from BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World at Kepler’s Books.
Event introduced by Firoozeh Dumas.
Winter ‘09 date TBD
Kepler’s Books
1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park CA, 94025
(650) 324-4321

Niloufar Talebi discusses translation of contemporary Iranian poetry and reads from BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World.

7 PM, Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, CA 94925 (415) 927-0960

Niloufar Talebi reads from BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World at the
Persian Arts Festival’s Shab-e She’r at the Bowery Poetry Club.

Wednesday November 19th, from 6-8 PM
308 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
(212) 614-0505

For those of you who missed the 2007 premier of ICARUS/RISE at Theater Artaud, the San Francisco-based Red Poppy Art House is presenting an ICARUS/RISE Re-mix.

ICARUS/RISE is a multimedia theatrical piece based on poetry featured in BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World, connecting the myth of Icarus with the migration of Iranians, and the solitary journey of the artist/migrant in the quest for freedom.
Friday October 10, 2008 and Saturday October 11, 2008
2698 FOLSOM SF,CA 94110

Niloufar Talebi reads from BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World at Books Inc. Mountain View.

Thursday October 9, 2008 @ 7:30 PM
301 Castro Street, Mountain View
(650) 428-1234

Niloufar Talebi reads from BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World at Litquake festival’s
Koret Reading Series

Sunday October 4/5, 2008
San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin Street
San Francisco CA 94102-4733 - (415) 557-4400

Screening ‘Midnight Approaches’, a DVD of short films based on the poetry in BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World.

Saturday October 4th, 7 PM
Location announced in October

The Middle East and Middle East American Center at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center hosts an evening for BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World.

Wednesday Sept. 17, 2008, 6.30-8.30 PM
365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4309

The Asia Society Northern California co-presents the first reading of BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World in San Francisco, at Stacey’s Bookstore in downtown SF.
Tuesday August 5th, 2008, 12:30 - 1:30 pm
581 Market St
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 421-4687

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.

Published by North Atlantic Books, distributed by Random House

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.

Read an excerpt of the Introduction to BELONGING.

Order on Amazon.com

“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

Interview (in Persian) with Voice Of America on December 16th, 2006 with “Roundtable With You”, Meezgerdi Baa Shomaa.

Voice of America

Files are quite large, they will take some time to download.

• Quick Time
• Windows Media

DVD screens at the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) annual conference in Boston. November 18-21.

The Translation Project organizes a multi-media conference on the life and poetry of Iranian women poets including and since Forough Farrokhzad. Conference presentations include Farrokhzad’s only film, The House is Black, the Nasser Saffarian trilogy of films on Farrokhzad, Sard-e Sabz, Jaam-e Jaan, and Oj-e Moj. Dr. Maryam Habibian presents a lecture, a theater piece and a short documentary on the life and work of Farrokhzad. Niloufar Talebi presents a dramatic reading of selections from her Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Poetry Around the World, a lecture on contemporary Iranian poetry and a screening of Midnight Approaches….

November 14-15, State University of New York, Plattsburgh

Read Press Republican's Article

Niloufar Talebi presents an evening of dramatic readings of contemporary Iranian poetry accompanied with live music by multi-instrumentalist, Bobak Salehi and goup, at the annual American Literary Translators Association conference in the Seattle area.

Conference October 18-21

Reading translations of contemporary Iranian poetry.

Niloufar will read at Lit Crawl, the final event of Litquake as part of:
One World, Many Languages: Literature in Translation
Lineup also includes: Chana Bloch, Hamida Banu Chopra, Zack Rogow, John Oliver Simon

Abandoned Planet Bookstore, 518 Valencia street, 6-7 pm

Presenting a paper on Contemporary Iranian Poets outside Iran and screening our films based on these voices.
October 6-8, Brattleboro, VT

“I found the marriage of visual, musical and poetic imagery in Niloufar
Talebi’s work to be touching and effective and an ideal way to discover
and appreciate contemporary Iranian poetry.”
- Michael Tilson Thomas
Music Director, San Francisco Symphony

“An accomplished translator, Niloufar Talebi is presenting our rich Iranian tradition to the world with The Translation Project. I appreciate her long and valuable journey and wish her the best in her difficult job.”
- Shahrnush Parsipur
Author of Tooba and the Meaning of Night and Women Without Men

View Trailer

Preview silent auction items

Let’s face it, no matter where you are, or what time it is, midnight is always approaching. What this means is that the time has arrived when you must take into account all that has happened. Which is what Niloufar Talebi and The Translation Project have done via their multi-dimensional, evocative and entertaining Midnight Approaches….

While Iran is currently in the news because of politics and religious fanaticism, The Translation Project feels compelled to show more, and give voice to contemporary Iranian literature. Midnight Approaches… features poets living outside the country due to forces that have gripped the country since 1979 and continue to still shape the world today.

These poems express what it’s like to be transplanted, to have humor, to be alone, to be in love, or to yearn. In much the same way that The Kite Runner centered on an Afghani family but conjured universal truths, these poems also communicate things that exist beyond translation, yet rely on it in order to be understood.

These poets are not unlike the “lost generation” writers of the Twenties-Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Fitzgerald, and Pound-who wrote as Americans but with a worldly experience after moving to Europe. As the most European of American cities, San Francisco makes a natural home for the resilience and spirit of these poems. Much as it did for the Beat poets and their words of that time.

Iran has had a long history of supporting the arts through state institutions. Unfortunately this support no longer exist. If Iranian arts, letters and culture are going to survive, it will be through the support of both the Iranian and American communities for works like The Translation Project. We rely on your support and thank you for it.
This benefit screening of the long-awaited Midnight Approaches… will show in public for the first time the combination of performance, music and dance that brings this poetry to life.
Sponsorship opportunities:
Platinum - $5000
-5 copies of the DVD and 5 VIP seats
-Premium billing in program
-Personal thanks in opening or closing remarks at the benefit
-Mention by Niloufar Talebi during appearance on KRON 4 news segment
-Co-producer credit on upcoming film, “Love is Lemony”

Gold - $3000
-3 copies of the DVD and 3 VIP seats
-Featured billing in program
-Credit in Anthology
-Personal thanks in opening or closing remarks at the benefit

Silver - $2000
-2 copies of the DVD and 2 VIP seats
-Featured billing in program
-Credit in Anthology
-Personal thanks in opening or closing remarks at the benefit

Admission
Reception, silent auction and screening - $75.00
Reception, silent auction, screening and musical performance - $125.00
All of the above plus a copy of our DVD - $200.00
Those already owning a DVD, full admission is $100/person or $200/couple
Event Details
Reception and silent auction 6-7pm
Screening 7-8pm
Musical Performance by Ostaad Nejad 8-9pm

Catering generously donated by Maykadeh restaurant in North Beach
Wines donated by Le Pialet and Stephen Vincent Wines
Theater courtesy of Jean Shelton Actors Lab

The September 24th Benefit Screening is featured on KRON 4 Weekend Update. View 9/17/06 appearance footage below.

• QuickTime
• Windows Media

Poet Majid Naficy participates in The Resilience of the Human Spirit, An International Gathering of Poets. Other participating poets are Carolyn Forche, Naomi Shahib Nye, Li-Young Lee, Lillian Boraks-Nemetz, Yasuhiko Shigemoto, Alexandre Kimenyi, Claribel Alegria, Choman Hardi, Orlando Ricardo Menes, Dunya Mikhail, Valzhyna Mort, and Nguyen Chi Thien.
Spetember 16-17 at the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, MA
Sponsored by Blue Flower Arts

Guest teaching former SF poet laureate, devorah major’s, “World Poetry and Resistance” class in San Francisco at the California College for the Arts.

Participation in Mehregan events include dramatic reading and film screening. More info later.
September 9-10
Orange County

Screening Midnight Approaches….
LA Film Society,
11338 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025

Presentation about the project and how to become a part of growing the presence of contemporary Iranian literature on the world stage.

Iranian-American Chamber of Commerce meeting at Santorini restaurant

242 O’Farrell street in San Francisco, 7-9 pm

6th Biennial on Iranian Studies, co-sponsored by the Iran Heritage Foundation
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, UK
August 3-5

View highlights from the bilingual interview with Iranican live on the Persian News Network.

دوستان عزیز دوزبانه–انگلیسی-فارسی–میتوانند قسمتی از گفتگو را اینجا ببینند

Interview with Iranican Live (Jul. 15, 2006)

Multi-city tribute to this Iranian bard. Niloufar will read Simin Behbahani’s poetry in translation.
Sunday May 14th, Dwinelle Hall, University of California Berkeley
2-3 pm Social hour, book sale and TTP display table
3-5 pm Program

Simin Behbahani, Dr. Jaleh Pirnazar and Niloufar Talebi reading

Homa Sarshar, Lobat Vala, Simin Behbahani and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi

Simin Behbahani and Niloufar

Dr. Ehsan Yarshater and Niloufar

Annual San Francisco Gala, 2006.
Bridging Past and Present
Ritz Carlton San Francisco
6:30 - 11 pm

Markazi Satellite TV interviews Niloufar about the project and will screen footage from Paper Boats, the DVD of films based on poetry. Interview can also be viewed online at www.pamtv.us

9 - 10 pm PST (Los Angeles Time)

Screening our Poetryfilms and doing a dramatic collaborative reading at SIP’s annual Spring event.

FAZ Restaurant, Grand Ballroom
1108 N. Mathilda Ave, Sunnyvale

Tickets: Free for Members, $15 for Non Members
Event Information: 408.236.2188

Read an event summary here.

The University of Iowa Translaton Center hosts a translation colloquim and a carnival from March 31 to April 2.
Our Poetryfilms will screen on Sunday April 2.

Read an event summary here.

Apadana Satellite TV interviews Niloufar about the project and will screen footage from Paper Boats, the DVD of films based on poetry.

6:30 - 7:30 pm Pacific Standard Time (Los Angeles time)

Our panel, “Iranians Translating Iranians”, will focus on the issues of translation with knowledge of Persian and without through translation intermediaries, the advantages and challenges of translating out of Persian by native and dominant speakers, and the opportunity to reverse the fetishization of Persian literature and re-introduce it to the western mind.

The Association of Writers and Writing Programs
AWP 2006 Annual Conference & Bookfair
March 8-11, 2006
Austin, Texas
HILTON AUSTIN & AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER

Two of our short films, Tomorrow and Night, based respectively on the poetry of Abbas Saffari and Majid Naficy, screen at the Visible Verse 2005 Film Festival at Pacific Cinematheque in Vancouver, B.C.
7:30 pm, 1131 Howe Street, Vancouver

*Niloufar named an ALTA 2005 Fellow*
I moderate a panel on creating contemporary translations of Iranian poetry, and participate in a panel on editing anthologies at the 2005 American Literary Translator’s Association’s annual conference, as well as screen Paper Boats and do a reading of my translations of Shahrouz Rashid’s poetry.

November 2-5, Hotel Omni Mont-Royal, Montreal, Canada.

A ONE-NIGHT-ONLY SCREENING of PAPER BOATS: Short Films of Contemporary Iranian Poetry, a one of a kind artist collaboration, in this sneak-preview screening of a work in progress. Fusing San Francisco’s avant-garde dancers, performers, musicians and filmmakers with contemporary Iranian poetry, PAPER BOATS offers its audience a truly unique look at the collaborative process. PAPER BOATS features seven contemporary Iranian poems acted out by performers with live music composed for each poem to a sold-out house at the ODC Theater. Gaining one more level of interpretation, external images were added to the edited performance footage, creating powerful shorts. PAPER BOATS also includes a narrated section on the history of Persian poetry, a fascinating behind the scenes, as well as a coming attractions section. This unique event allows the audience to see its process, and the individual interpretation of the poetry that each collaborator brings to the piece as we invite support to take it to completion. Musical ensemble lead by Hafez Modirzadeh, ODC show directed by Zara Houshmand, production, design and choreography by Ballet Afsaneh, and editing by InVision Productions.

Dolby Laboratories
100 Potrero Avenue (cross street is Alameda)
San Francisco, CA
Reception 6:30 pm, Screening 7pm

Spirit of the Letter, The Translator’s Challenge: Panel discussion with recipients of the International Center for Writing & Translation’s (ICWT) grant: translators K. Suneetha Rani, Heather Marie Stoddard, Niloufar Talebi and Sergio Waisman.

4 p.m., Humanities Instructional Building, Room 135. Irvine, CA.
Free. Info: 949.824.1948.

San Francisco launch of Bodies, the new issue of TWO LINES. Reception 6:30, reading 7:15 pm, The Blue Room Gallery, 2331 Mission Street (between 19th and 20th), San Francisco.

The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses and the New York Public Library, CLMP/NYPL, present Periodically Speaking, a reading of Translations from the Axis of Evil. TTP represents Rattapallax Magazine.
6 pm, New York Public Library on 5th Avenue at 42nd street. DeWitt Wallace periodicals room.

TTP participates in a reading and celebration for Strange Times, My Dear, the PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literature at the Asia Society. 6:30-8:00 pm at 725 Park Avenue, NYC.

Presenting a talk, Translating the 21st Century Iranian, as well as premiering Paper Boats, The Translation Project’s DVD of poetry in performance, in Washington D. C. April 23-24, 2005.
Iranian Alliance Across Borders annual conference.

Reading translation of Karbassi’s “Love is Lemony” in the new issue of TWO LINES: A Journal of Translation, Bodies. Followed by readings by Uwe Timm and Nuria Amat.
6-7:30 The Accompanied Library, 15 Gramercy Park South, Studio 6C (Inside the National Arts Club), NYC. A Pen World Voices Festival of International Literature event (see below event).

PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature. Festival runs April 16-22, 2005, NYC. Reading translations published in Strange Times, My Dear, the PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literature, ed. Nahid Mozaffari.
6-7 pm at The New School, 66 West 12th St.

Reading English translations of poets at UniVerse: World Literary Voices, Co-sponsored by Rattapallax and the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church.
9-10:30 pm at St. Mark’s Church, 131 East 10th st.

POETS FOR PEACE and TTP host a featured reading of poetry and translations at the San Francisco Main Library. Readers include Ilya Kaminsky, Ravi Shankar, Fiona Lam, J.P. Dancing Bear, Pireeni Sundaralingam, Joyce Jenkins, Haleh Hatami, Igor Yevelev and Niloufar Talebi. Open and free to public.

Main Library, Lower Level, Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room, 2:00 - 4:30 p.m. 100 Larkin Street (at Grove)

TTP invites Ravi Shankar for a weekend of readings and discussions. Ravi reads from his book, Instrumentality, as well as selections of a forthcoming anthology he co-edits. Poetry Express, Priya Indian Cuisine, 2072 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley. 7-9:30. Hosted by Mark States.

*This event is supported by Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation.*

TTP moderates a panel of editors and translators to explore how we read the literature of other cultures and how those cultures are unmade and remade through various representations such as translation. Panelists include Ilya Kaminsky, Ravi Shankar, Alejandro Murguia, Eileen Tabios.

Locus Arts 2857 - 24th street @ Bryant in SF (Galeria de la Raza).
2-3:30. $5. Reception to follow talk.

Teach a poetry class to tenants in supportive housing at the Community Housing Partnership in San Francisco.

TTP is introducing three contemporary Iranian poets at this year’s ALTA conference in Las Vegas. Other readers include Mahmood Karimi-Hakkak, Anthony A. Lee and Sholeh Wolpe.

An evening of immigration awareness and community, featuring live music, poetry, silent art auction etc. Participants include Matt Gonzales, President of the SF Board of Supervisors, and Amnesty International and Global Exchange. A benefit event.

6pm - 1am, STUDIO Z, 314 - 11th Street @ Folsom, San Francisco. $7-$20 sliding scale.

Hogtown Creek Review’s new issue is soon released, containing translations of Ziba Karbassi and Majid Naficy’s poems! Reading hosted by guest editor, Glenn Ingersoll.

7:30 pm - Escape From New York Pizza reading series, 333 Bush street, SF. $5 suggested donation goes to benefit.

The Art of Illumination: Closing talk with visual artist, Ala Ebtekar, about translating language, culture and images. Elemental shows at Intersection for the Arts from June 16 through July 31. Talk is at 2 PM in the Gallery. FREE.

TTP participates in a public forum with independent presses, producers, presenters, and writers of all genres in an opportunity to talk about the most pressing issues facing the literary community in the Bay Area today. Intersection for the Arts - 446 Valencia (btwn 15/16) Mission District SF. 8 PM - FREE.

Inspired by the importance of translating works from the “axis of evil” countries or ones with which the US is under a trade embargo (OFAC Declaration), FESTIVALNERUDA organized a reading of The Translation Project poems. Accompanied by Dan O. reading his own poetry inspired by Neruda.

FESTIVALNERUDA, celebrating the centenary of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Recording of Neruda’s Love Poem 7 translated into Persian by Niloufar Talebi featured in sound installation.

As part of ARTSFEST2004, Art is Permitted Everywhere is hosting an open air birthday tribute poetry reading for the great Russian poet, Anna Akhmatova, celebrating her life and that of other “exiles” through readings of her and others’ works. The Translation Project will do a reading of the poems created in diaspora by Iranian poets which do, in fact, concentrate on the theme of exile, even if it does not solely gather poems about exile, or poems of exile.

Washington Square Park, San Francisco, Saturday May 29th 2-5pm.

Concert at the Mexican Heritage Theater including segments of Four Springs.
Co-produced by Ballet Afsaneh
Watch Video:

A reading of poems to be included in the Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Poetry in Exile, a benefit for Ballet Afsaneh.