Nowruz Tribute - Shahnameh

The Translation Project is pleased to announce its newest show, The Persian Rite of Spring, commissioned by the Farhang Foundation, to world premiere at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) on March 14, 2010, at 12:30 PM.

The Persian Rite of Spring, created by The Translation Project’s Niloufar Talebi in collaboration with composer Bobak Salehi, is a multimedia show about the mythology, poetry, music, folklore and celebrations of Nowruz, a millennia-old tradition celebrated by Iranians and others around the world. The birth of light and its victory over dark is an archetypical dynamic with a series of ceremonies from Yalda (Winter Solstice) through 13-Bedar (Outdoor 13) that usher in the renewal of the world each spring, which The Persian Rite of Spring brings to life.

The performance will take place in the Leo S. Bing Theater at LACMA at 12:30 p.m. The event is FREE to the public. Due to limited seating (450), tickets are required and may be obtained free-of-charge on a first come, first served basis from LACMA’s box office, starting at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 14th. LACMA is located at 5905 Wilshire Blvd • Los Angeles California 90036 • Phone: 323-857-6000.

The Persian Rite of Spring performance is part of Farhang Foundation’s second annual, all-day Nowruz celebration at LACMA on March 14, 2010 from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The performance will be followed by a special musical performance by the Hamed Nikpay Ensemble, which includes some of the most talented world musicians, performing Hamed Nikpay’s signature Persian melodies fused with a flamenco beat, at LACMA’s LA Times Central Courtyard.

Click here to read the official press release.

“If you have ever read multiple translations of works by Neruda, Rumi, Rilke, Dostoyevsky, Baudelaire … and wondered how their differences come about, and who makes those decisions, or ever wanted to be involved on a deeper level with the work of a writer not writing in English, then you might be a translator in the making. Translators are cultural and literary champions who bring readers new voices and perspectives.

In this workshop, through fun exercises, award-winning translator Niloufar Talebi shows what it takes to become a professional translator by going through the process by which a non-English text is ‘brought over’ into English, giving participants the fundamentals of rendering translations. No prior translation experience or knowledge of another language is necessary! Just a love of literature.

Talebi’s books include Belonging: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World. Drawing from Persian mythology and poetry, Talebi is currently writing a libretto for the tenth anniversary of 9/11 under commission by Carnegie Hall.”

Saturday October 31, 10 AM – 4 PM

BOOK PASSAGE, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, CA – 415/927-0960

SIGN UP FOR WORKSHOP HERE

1. Translation As an Act of Love

(Beginning level translation workshop)

Saturday October 31, 10 AM – 4 PM

“If you have ever read multiple translations of works by Neruda, Rumi, Rilke, Dostoyevsky, Baudelaire … and wondered how their differences come about, and who makes those decisions, or ever wanted to be involved on a deeper level with the work of a writer not writing in English, then you might be a translator in the making. Translators are cultural and literary champions who bring readers new voices and perspectives.

In this workshop, through fun exercises, award-winning translator Niloufar Talebi shows what it takes to become a professional translator by going through the process by which a non-English text is ‘brought over’ into English, giving participants the fundamentals of rendering translations. No prior translation experience or knowledge of another language is necessary! Just a love of literature.

Talebi’s books include Belonging: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World. Drawing from Persian mythology and poetry, Talebi is currently writing a libretto for the tenth anniversary of 9/11 under commission by Carnegie Hall.”

SIGN UP FOR WORKSHOP HERE

2.  Reading from BELONGING + Iranian protest slogans in translation

Friday October 30, 7 PM – FREE and open to the public

BOTH events at BOOK PASSAGE, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, CA – 415/927-0960

NEWS

1. The concert DVD of ICARUS/RISE, a multimedia naghali theatrical piece, dramatizing new Iranian poetry is released! Buy your copy on Amazon.com

ICARUS/RISE

2. This year’s winner of the Bita Prize for Literature and Freedom is Ms. Goli Taraghi, one of contemporary Iran’s eminent writers and essayists.

Goli Taraghi

WE RECOMMEND

American Literary Translators Association annual conference, Pasadena, CA, Nov. 11-14

Persian Arts Festival (NYC)

Taghi Amirani a TED Fellow

     I am personally writing you to invite you for a special cause.  As an early believer in and/or contributor to our ground-breaking projects, you are in the position to make something happen for our small but mighty organization.

     Because the financial situation that unfolded last year, we respected our supporters’ space and did not send out any calls for support last year.  That was the last thing you needed.  Now with our new fiscal year starting on July 1, we think the time has come.

     Let me explain a little about WHY nonprofits need INDIVIDUAL donors:  apart from the obvious infusion of cash, the more important reason is to indicate income from individual donors on our FOUNDATION grant applications.  As you may know, the Translation Project has been steadily successful in garnering foundation support to deliver projects no other organization does (this may sound like a lot of income, but even with our success, the funds barely cover programming, let alone the infrastructure that makes that programming happen.  Go figure, that’s the imperfect world of US nonprofits for you!).  This is partly because we have shown DIVERSITY in income, which funders like.  So for this ‘little engine that could’ to continue its powerful work, it’s imperative that after taking one year off from individual contributions, that we indicate income in that category AGAIN.

     So I am personally asking you to consider making a tax-deductible donation to our 501 C 3 nonprofit.  We are without any religious or political ties.  We are committed to doing cultural work that builds bridges for Iranian culture.  Our day to day operations needs your support.  This means accounting, supplies and other boring things.  If you like what we do, wait until you hear about the project we are developing with an amazing young female Iranian epic storyteller (Gordafarid)…

With lots of heart and passion,

Niloufar Talebi

Founder/Director

Here are the donation options:
Secure online Paypal option:

PayPal Option

Or

Mail a check written to the ‘Translation Project’ to this address:

The Translation Project
5214F Diamond Heights Blvd. #226
San Francisco, CA 94131-2175

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If you are sending a check, please fill out this form for our records and to use on your tax letter:

Name _________________________________________________

Name for IRS tax purposes if different: _____________________________________________________

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The poem chosen for the current installment is a political slogan devised by Iranian protesters who took to the streets this June after the official results of the presidential elections were announced. The slogan refers directly to an insult levied at protesters by current Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who referred to them as khas-o-khaashaak, meaning dirt and dust, scraps and bits….(read the two translations of this slogan here…)

آن خس و خاشاک تویی/ پست تر از خاک تویی
شور منم نور منم/ عاشق رنجور منم
زور تویی کور تویی/ هاله ی بی نور تویی
دلیر بی باک منم/ مالک این خاک منم

IRAN: A CONVERSATION ABOUT THE ELECTIONS, PROTEST, AND THE FUTURE

With Shaul Bakhash, Roger Cohen, Haleh Esfandiari, and Karim Sadjadpour

Wednesday, July 15, 200, 7 PM

92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center, 1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street
Subway: 4/5/6 to 86th Street

TICKETS: $15/$8 for students with ID and PEN members
www.smarttix.com or call 212-868-4444

During these crucial times in Iranian history, as brave Iranian people fight for freedom, we continue to celebrate and present Iranian literature and words in translation, be it through solidarity readings, and continuous translation efforts, or through nominating Iranian writers for international literary prizes and more…We are in awe of the power of people coming together and look forward to seeing you at many events.

Translation Project Events:

Literatures of Resistance: In Solidarity w/ the Iranian People, July 11:

FREE EVENT featuring Rana Farhan, Luis Francia, Amir Parsa, THE TEHRAN-DAKAR BROTHERS , Eleanor Wilner, D. Nurske, Said Sayrafiezadeh, Roger Sedarat, Dalia Sofer, Niloufar Talebi and more!

This free event is sponsored by the Association of Iranian American Writers, Persian Arts Festival, The Translation Project, ArteEast and Bowery Arts and Science. Any contributions at the event will be donated to Amnesty International.
Saturday July 11, 2009, 2 – 5 PM, Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, NYC

Co-sponsored by KODOOM.COM

Ziba Karbassi presents at the SF International Poetry Festival, July 25-26:

Saturday July 25, 2009
Main Stage Poetry Reading with: Francis Combes, Ziba Karbassi, Georges Castera/Joj Kastra, Taslima Nasrin, Al Young, Ámbar Past, Tarek Eltayeb, Agneta Falk, Sasha Pimentel Chacòn, Ferruccio Brugnaro, Carla Badillo Coronado, and Jack Hirschman.

7:00 – 9:30 PM at *Palace of Fine Arts* San Francisco
AND

Sunday July 26, 2009
Ziba Karbassi (Iran) reading with Niloufar Talebi

3:30 – 5:00 PM, North Beach Poetry Crawl at *Cafe Trieste* San Francisco

Panel on Iranian poetry at the Philoctetes Center, September 22:

Iraj Anvar , Richard Jeffrey Newman , Roger Sedarat , Niloufar Talebi , Katayoon Zandvakili

Tuesday September 22, 2009, 7 – 8:30 PM, Philoctetes Center, 247 E 82nd St, NYC

ICARUS/RISE at Neustadt Festival of Int’l Literature & Cultures, Oct. 22:

Bobak Salehi and Niloufar Talebi perform ICARUS/RISE Remix at a World Literature Today event.

Program: ICARUS/RISE , Pireeni Sundaralingam and Colm O’Riain , Etgar Keret screening “Jellyfish”

Thursday October 22, 2009, 7 PM at the University of Oklahoma

Recent Articles:

“I must Go Home to Iran Again” by Marjane Satrapi in the New York Times
“Memory of a Phoenix Feather: Iranian Storytelling Traditions and Contemporary Theater” by Niloufar Talebi in the July/August 2009 issue of World Literature Today

Books we recommend:

Censoring an Iranian Love Story (Knopf, 2009) by Shahriar Mandanipour, Tr. by Sara Khalili
Mr. Mandanipour is nominated for the 2010 Neustadt Literary Prize
Reviews of Censoring: New York Times ; The New Yorker

Translating Iran links:

Grassroots initiative for free translations for the Iranian freedom movement
New poems by Simin Behbahani on NPR

Translation of current slogans on iReport.com

Evening program:

ICARUS/RISE Remix

Pireeni Sundaralingam and Colm O’Riain

Etgar Keret screening “Jellyfish”
7 PM

September 24, 6:30 PM