 Iran/Persia Editor's Note: Poetry has always held a different position in Iranian society than in the west. It has always been honored among the young and old alike as the consummate literary genre, the central medium for the truth and conveyance for dissident thought. Simin Behbahani was born in Teheran, Iran in 1927. She is one of the most distinguished figures in modern Iranian literature and an outstanding contemporary Iranian poet. Simin began writing poetry and published her first poem at the age of fourteen. Currently, she is Iran's national poet and an icon of Iranian intelligentsia and literati. The Iran Chamber Society describes her father as a well known writer and newspaper editor and her mother a leader among women, teacher, writer, newspaper editor and poet. Wikipedia describes her style: "She used the "Char Pareh" style of Nima, a renowned poet of Persian history, and subsequently, turn to 'Ghazal', a free flowing, poetry style similar to the Western 'Sonnet'. Simin contributed to a historic development in the form of the "Ghazal", as she added theatrical subjects, and daily events and conversations into this style of poetry. She has expanded the range of traditional Persian verse forms and produced some of the most significant works of Persian literature in 20th century." Behbahani is president of The Iranian Writers' Association and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997. She received the Human Rights Watch Hellman-Hammet grant (1998) and the Carl von Ossietzky Medal (1999). The Noor-Va-Danesh Center is an Iranian/Persian cultural center in New Jersey, founded by Zohreh Kasaee among others. In a time when Iran is under threat of foreign interference and war, it is extremely important for people in the West to know that there are Iranians like Simin Behbahani and Iranian-American cultural centers like Noor-Va-Danesh who are taking care of their own business, advancing self-governance of the Iranian people, protecting the sovereignty of the nation of Iran and enriching all our lives along the way. - Les Blough, Editor
Behbahani in New Jersey Alireza Tarighian It was a great honor to have the legend among us. She is touring Canada and US. This was not part of the tour but while she was staying at her tour sponsor's (Dr. Ghahari) house in New York City, she generously accepted to attend a gathering in her honor at Noor-Va-Danesh Center in nearby New Jersey. The short notice announcement came in e-mail on Saturday morning to brighten my day! There were about 100-150 eager and mature members of the public in the audience. Simin Sadatee opened the ceremony by a beautiful performance of poetry and offered a bunch of red roses to the lady of love. Zohreh Kasaee from the council of Noor-Va-Danesh Center welcomed our beloved mother of Iran. Scholars Hora Yavary and Farzaneh Milani were among the speakers on "Nima-e- Gahzal"'s life. Behbahani's personal portraits from childhood until present were displayed on a large screen (featured below). There was a musical performance of her lyrics and many recited her legendary pieces. Then she came to enlighten us with the joy of her words. She started with a joke! and kept the sprit of the night high by reminding us all, through her poetry, about war, challenges during the turmoil, love and the beauty of life. Due to drastic vision loss, Behbahani can not read from paper anymore and her son, Ali Behbahani, would read her the parts that she was not able to recall. Looks like all the great artist have to go through this type of torture -- from Beethoven to Shamlou and now to the lovely Simin. At the end she asked us to keep reading her work and love each other. I wish I could share all the details with you but these pictures taken with a camcorder (not digital, sorry!) are all I can offer. Do not miss her if you are living near one of her tour stops.
~Simin Behbahani
The Noor-Va-Danesh Center
http://www.iranian.com/Tarighian/ |
