Abbas Saffari (1951-2021) عباس صفاری was born in 1951 in Yazd, Iran and passed away due to complications of COVID-19 in the United States. He was a poet, translator, editor, and artist. Abbas Saffari was one of the first to recite avant garde, surrealist lyrics in Iran for the singer, Farhad. He is the author of Twilight Of Presence (Los Angeles, Tasveer, 1995), Confluence Of Hands and Apples (Los Angeles, Kaaroon, 1992), Wet Matches (Tehran publisher, Morvarid, 2005), Old Camera and Other Poems (Tehran publisher, Saales, 2002) winner of the “Karnameh” Poetry Book of the Year Prize, Like Ink in Water, Laughing in Snow, Walking in Babylon, Don’t Make Me Regret It, and those he edited and translated, such as Pomegranate Blood, and Shepherds’ Bride. He was widely published and read in Iran. He was the poetry editor of Iranian literary magazines in exile such as Sang (1997-2000) and Cactus (2000-2002). He contributed poetry to the online Poets Against the War magazine. His long poem called, “Our Story” is published in US educational books. He studied Sculpture at Long Beach State University and lived in Long Beach, California with his wife and two daughters. He was one of the handful of Iranian poets living outside of Iran whose work is published and read in Iran.

See a page dedicated to Abbas Saffari on Niloufar Talebi’s website that includes his poetry in translation, and short films, and performance footage based on his work: https://www.niloufartalebi.com/abbas-saffari