In times of disruption and uncertainty we turn towards poetry, often love poetry. One unique species of love poetry fits the bill right now – Persian love poetry (lyric, sometimes mystic – such as by Omar Khayyam and Rumi). ( Did you know? there are 80 ways to spell “love” in Persian. ) And there hasn’t been a book available in English by a contemporary Iranian poet for at least five years. Comes now Alireza Roshan, who updates his millennial cultural heritage in his absolutely stunning, and important, Book of Absence.

The Book of Absence is an ordered suite of 135 brief, accessible poems – at turns amazing, poignant, erotic, heart-breaking, and sub­lime. The poetry unfolds within a dramatic structure:

• The Book of Me [ “me,” separated from “you,” and longing for union ]
• The Book of You [ more about the narrator’s object of yearning ] [ Persian is without gender]
• The Book of Absence [ glimpses of clarity and freedom ]

As it gathers force, minimalism becomes maximalism.

An appended biography tells of his growing up in an illit­erate home in Tehran amidst revolution and war, his origins as a poet, imprisonment in solitary confinement for being a Sufi, and so on. Transla­tors’ notes cover Persian poetry, the power of deep imagery, Sufism, and “ab­sence.” It could easily be packaged and positioned as a Gift title, and is ripe for an audio edition.

Translator Erfan Mojib lives in Tehran and has produced 11 books. Translator Gary Gach resides in San Fran­cisco, with 10 books to his name, one title having sold +100,000 copies. A dynamic speaker, Gach’s work has appeared in +150 periodicals and a dozen anthologies, including American Poetry Review, A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker, City Lights Review, The Nation, and Technicians of the Sacred; he’s also a dervish in Mevlevi and Nimatullahi Sufi Orders. In 2023, they collaborated on Hafiz’s Lit­tle Book of Life. They have 97,000 social me­dia followers.

Selections have been appearing in the English-speaking world … via Asymptote … Essential Voices: Poetry of Iran & Its Diaspora (Green Linden Press) … Evergreen Review … Jacket 2 …Konch Magazine … Poem-a-Day (Poets.org)… World Literature Today ( the latter two w/ audio of the poet reading ) … & Y’ALLA – A Texan Journal of Middle Eastern Literature.

Whether the geopolitical importance of Iran re­mains front page news daily, or not – poetry never sleeps. Here is the vital, resilient, inherently poetic soul of Iran – 93 million extraordinary ordinary people, yearning for the same things we do.

Alireza Roshan ( born 1977, Teheran ) headed the Books desk at Iran’s reformist daily newspaper, Shargh. He initially gained fame publishing his his brief poems daily on the Internet – attracting a following of thousands of readers. Impressed by the poem’s high quality, no one could believe he didn’t already have a book out ~ so he became known as The Poet Without a Book. A selection was published in Tehran, followed by a French edition of 90 poems entitled Jusqu’à toi combien de poèmes ( How Many Poems Until There’s You ). Besides The Book of Absence, he’s author of Busy, Cage Poetry, Fade, Leyli’s Shadow (a novel),A Little Book of Love Poetry, Moonstone, The Point & Other Stories, Suwayda, and We.

Naomi Shahib Nye calls his work “exquisite, intimate, wondrous and wise.” In European Journal (Brussels), Michel Manasse noted his poetry reminds him of Omar Khayyam and Sa’adi. In personal correspondence, Elizabeth T. Gray, Jr., poet and translator of Hafez and Forugh Farrokhzad, writes of his poems : “ …  both modern and koan-like while remaining so distinctly Persian … absolutely stunning, and important ! “ Poet-playwright-biographer Aram Saroyan writes: “This wonderful book races through the cosmos at the speed of light.”

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-~-=|> Proposal for publishers

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covers of books by Alireza Roshan

calligraphy by Alireza Roshan

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READINGS

GG first read 20 work-in-progress translations in 2017, at an annual memorial for the bombing of Al-Mutanabbi Street — named for a 10th-century poet, Baghdad’s cultural and intellectual center,  – one of multiple readings in the US & UK, and in Baghdad, Berlin, Dubai, Paris, Quebec, Venice, Sydney, and Vancouver. [ Video: Persis Karim | 5:22 ] https://archive.org/details/20PoemsByAlirezaRoshan

Introduced by SF Poet Emeritus, Jack Hirschman, GG reads translations of Alireza Roshan, plus Bijan Jalali, Edmond Jabès, ancient Chinese Zen poems, Ko Un, & a couple of his own poems,  [32:33] https://archive.org/details/Tuesday_201712

Celebrating the launch of the voluminous, luminous anthology Essential Voices – Poetry from Iran & Its Diaspora, GG joined in on Night Two of readings, (Oct. 20, 2021) featuring Roja Chamankar, Armen Davoudian, Tyler Fisher, Persis Karim, Haidar Khezri, Leyla Momeny, George Reiner, Siavash Saadlou, and Niloufar Talebi. Night One (Oct. 19, 2021) featured Mansour Alimoradi, Kaveh Bassiri, Mandana Chaffa, Amin Fatemi, Mahdi Ganjavi, Fayre Makeig, Daniel Rafinejad, Parisa Saranj, and Ali Zarrin.

.:.

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You are always the next poem