Kaveh Bassiri

Haft-Seen table

Baharestan and the Persian New Year

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The Persian New Year, called Nowruz (“New Day”), is the first day of spring—Thursday March 20, 2017, in the United States. It is calculated to the second, according to the moment that the sun crosses the equator. This non-Islamic holiday, which is shared by many countries, including Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, is based on the seasons and agricultural tradition, going back 3,000 years to Zoroastrian rituals.

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Seven with Farassati and Afkhami

Why an Iranian TV Show Hates Iranian Movies

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Farassati also argues that these films tend to be dark in their subject matter and thus provide a bad image of Iran for the West. They reinforce negative beliefs about Iran, which in certain ways can be true. But of course he also knows that many major award-winning films from all over the world have been critical of their own societies and governments. This is what artists do.

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Covers of A Social History of Iranian Cinema

Resources for Iranian Cinema

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Iran has produced one of the world’s greatest national cinemas, stretching back to before the Islamic revolution. The films have won numerous international awards, including the Oscar and the Golden Globe, as well as the Cannes Film Festival’s Golden Palm and Jury Prize, the Venice Film Festival’s Golden and Silver Lion, and the Berlinale’s Golden and Silver Bear. Yet, despite the accolades, Iranian movies are more discussed than seen in the United States.

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Modern Iranian Poetry in Translation

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Classical Persian poetry has held an important place in English-language literature: Khayyam is a central figure of the Victorian era; Rumi remains a best-selling poet in America; and Hafez has been one of the most frequently translated poets. But modern Persian poetry is absent from contemporary surveys. No modern Persian writer appears in the “Norton Anthology of World Literature” or in the “Encyclopedia of Literary Translation into English.”

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Image from The Canticle of the Birds

The Gathering of The Conference of the Birds

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* Kaveh Bassiri *

In recent decades, Farid ud-Din Attar’s 12th-century Persian masterpiece, Manṭeq al-ṭayr, has been the source for three new and revised translations, three illustrated adaptations (two for children), two expensive art books, and a number of theater and film adaptations. These translations and adaptations point to the rising importance of Attar’s poem in the English language. They are in conversation with Attar’s poem, bringing fresh and multifarious interpretations while building new homes for it in English.

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Crystal Bridges Museum logo

Crystal Bridges to Where?

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* Kaveh Bassiri *

I looked forward to “State of the Art,” which opened on September 13, 2014 as the Crystal Bridges Museum’s first exhibition not based on its permanent collection. Such exhibit should tell us about the museum’s aspirations. Curators Don Bacigalupi and Chad Alligood traveled to about 1,000 artist studios in 170 cities from 44 states, and they selected 227 works made since 2011 from 102 artists, half of them art educators. Their vision in the catalog says, “What we are attempting here is to rethink the shape of contemporary art in this country.”

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Picture of Ghanoonparvar lecturing

A Conversation with Ghanoonparvar

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* Kaveh Bassiri *

Perhaps no one has been more responsible for introducing modern Persian prose to Americans than Mohammad Ghanoonparvar. Everyone who teaches modern Persian literature or reads Persian novels in English translation is indebted to his work as a translator, scholar, and teacher. Ghanoonparvar and his students have produced a significant portion of modern Persian literature in English. He recently retired from University of Texas at Austin and is now Professor Emeritus. In celebration of his long service to Iranian literature, I took this opportunity to ask him some questions.

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