She was nominated for the nobel prize in literature in 1997. Often called the greatest iranian poet of the modern age, behbahanis soulful, penetrating sonnets ghazals have made her one of the worlds most recognisable names in contemporary literature. Her father, abbas khalili, writer and newspaper editor, had tens of publications to his credit. Poems are listed alphabetically and span all volumes. In this contemporary poets thought, womens issues have been expressed in a way that can reveal some kinds of feminist attitudes and trends. She was irans national poet and an icon to iranian literature. Simin behbahani is one of the two great contemporary female poets in iran. Aug 19, 2014 simin behbahani, one of irans most prominent literary figures and a vocal human rights defender who was targeted with censorship and smear campaigns by iranian authorities, has died in tehran.
Poet simin behbahani was loved by many ordinary iranians but drew the disapproval of the authorities, whom she challenged throughout her life, reports bbc persians golnoosh golshani. Mar 08, 2010 simin behbahani, 82, said she was about to fly to france when her passport was confiscated at tehran airport. Staff, national iranian american council niac niac is pleased to present a new poem by the lioness of iran, simin behbahani. The first annual bita prize for persian arts was awarded to ms. Prior to her birth, khalilis father, an editor and writer, was temporarily exiled. Her mother, fakhr ozma arghoon fakhr adel khalatbari, was a noted feminist, teacher, writer, newspaper editor, and a poet. Simin behbahani simin behbahani born july 20, 1927, tehran, iran is one of the most prominent figures of the modern persian literature and one of the most outstanding amongst the contemporary persian poets.
Professor ahmad karimihakkak professor of persian language, literature, and cultures university of maryland leverhulme visiting professor of soas simin behbahani. Gracefully she approached, in a dress of bright blue silk. Simin behbahani iran, they say, is the land of poetry, and gazal, a poem of ten to fifteen lines with special rhythmic, metric and alliterative requirements, has been the pillar of the countrys rich poetic tradition. Behbahanis poetry by helping us begin an initial and doubtless tentative. Pdf women issues from the point of view of simin behbahani, an. Simin behbahani, one of irans most prominent literary figures and a vocal human rights defender who was targeted with censorship and smear campaigns by. What i would like to do tonight is move us to a higher level of appreciation of simin. Simin behbahani, her surname also appears as bihbahani was a prominent iranian contemporary poet, lyricist and activist.
President obama read a poesy of simin behbahani in its nowrooz greeting and message of. Simins mother raised her to love literature and, when simin was 14, sent a poem simin had written to a literary journal, which published it. Click a title or book cover for additional details, or choose from a selection of poems in the side menu. Indeed, if emily dickinson so much identified with her community that she occasionally signed her letters amherst, then simin behbahani can sign her poems iran. Simin behbahani khalili was born on 20 june 1927 in tehran, iran, of literary parents. Simin behbahani s has published a large body of work spanning nearly 20 volumes. As a muslim woman writing in iran, simin behbahanis collections contain some of the seminal work of twentiethcentury persian literature. And she says neda is the voice of the people of iran. Aug 22, 2014 thousands of iranians, including prominent intellectuals, artists, and rights activists, have attended a funeral ceremony in tehran for celebrated poet and womens rights advocate simin behbahani. Romantic nature in the poetry of simin behbahani with a study of the collection of poems a line of speed and fire kobra nodehi1 and masoomeh pichack2 1 department of persian literature, gorgan branch, islamic azad university, gorgan, iran.
President obama reading a poesy of simin behbahani and appreciation of the poet agaahi. Selected poems of simin behbahani won the lois roth literary award in translation. The human rights activist has written poems in support of the opposition campaign against disputed elections in june last year. Her work has been published in iranian studies 20 and the school of oriental and african studies bulletin 2011. A career in poetry what i would like to do tonight is move us to a higher level of appreciation of simin. Bbc news iranian poet simin behbahani handed travel ban. She worked from within iran for six decades and wrote over 600 poems. Thousands of iranians, including prominent intellectuals, artists, and rights activists, have attended a funeral ceremony in tehran for celebrated poet and.
Social ideas in poetry of four female contemporary poet parvin etesami, corough fari tahereh safarzadeh and simin behbahani mohsen izadyar1i fatemeh azizmohammadi2 1department of persian literature, arak branch, islamic azad university, arak, iran 2department of english literature, arak branch, islamic azad university, arak, iran email address. Simin behbahani, one of irans most prominent poets, was born to a cultured family and raised amongst the literary elite. One of simin behbahani s poems from the book modern persian poetry by mahmud kianush gracefully she approached. Mtv music television university has selected simin behbahani, the poet who never sold her soul or her pen, to be its second poet laureate. Simin behbahani, who has died aged 87, was irans most famous female poet, credited with reinventing the ghazal, the lyrical sonnet associated with the classical persian poets. Jul 11, 2012 poetry simin behbahani s poems paint one of the most nuanced narratives of modern iranian society. President obama reading a poesy of simin behbahani and. Simin behbahani, life and poetry the translation project. Forough farrokhzad, and simin behbahani, and simin daneshvar, all of these women. June 20, 1927 august 19, 2014 was an iranian writer and poet.
Sunday may 14th, dwinelle hall, university of california. Aug 22, 2014 simins mother raised her to love literature and, when simin was 14, sent a poem simin had written to a literary journal, which published it. To understand the work of iranian poet simin behbahani 19272014 is to understand better the paradoxical nature of contemporary iran. Aug 19, 2014 poet simin behbahani was loved by many ordinary iranians but drew the disapproval of the authorities, whom she challenged throughout her life, reports bbc persians golnoosh golshani. Booklet since the age of 14, simin behbahani has inspired, revitalised, refreshed and liberated poetry in iran. These lines are from the poem its time to mow the flowers written by the late simin behbahani, who was considered by many to be irans most influential poet. Schematization of womens issues and atypical psychic and psychological situation are significant issues that are manifested in simin behbahanis poetries. As an intimate friend of the poet and a close observer of the history of poetry in the persianspeaking world, ahmad karimihakkak discusses simin behbahanis career and weighs the significance of certain bold in her poetry to venture some evaluation of her chances a lasting voice within the persian cultural traditions of the late twentieth and early twentyfirst century to conclude that.
Poems of iranian poet, simin behbehani love arrived and how red, translated to english by m. Simin behbahanis has published a large body of work spanning nearly 20 volumes. Women issues from the point of view of simin behbahani, an. One of simin behbahanis poems from the book modern persian poetry by mahmud kianush gracefully she approached. Famed iranian poet simin behbahani, who wrote of the joys of love, demanded equal rights for women and spoke out about the challenges facing those living in her homeland, died on thursday aged 87. These are listed below in chronological order beginning with the most.
Simin behbahani 1927 is one of irans most accomplished writers and possibly its greatest living poet. Schematization of womens issues and atypical psychic and psychological situation are significant issues that are manifested in simin behbahani s poetries. Born on july 20, 1927, behbahani lived and wrote through much of 20th century iranian history. Iranian poet and womens rights advocate simin behbahani. Simin behbahani, the lioness of iran, died on august 19th, aged 87. Simin behbahani, iranian poet who earned the sobriquet the lioness of iran for eloquently challenging national authorities and expressing her steadfast opposition to oppression and violence in more than 600 poems. Milani is the author of over 100 articles, opeds, prologues, epilogues, forewords and afterwords in both persian and english. Guzeena e ashar e simin behbahani farsi internet archive.
Niloufar will read simin behbahanis poetry in translation. Simin behbahani has expanded the range of traditional persian verse forms and produced some of the most significant works of. Social ideas in poetry of four female contemporary poet. She is irans national poet and an icon of the iranian intelligentsia and literati who affectionately refer to her as the lioness of. During the 1979 revolution, iranians from all walks of life, whether muslim. Behbahani published her first poem when she was only 14 years old, and in the years that followed, she gradually developed her own style of writing as she became a renowned poet.
Simin behbahanis initial engagement with poetry coincided with a tumultuous period in the countrys literary history, marked by the emergence of an increasing number of poets who, following in the footsteps of nima yushij, did not adhere to the metrics and regularity of rhyme visible and audible in classical persian poetry. Thanal online simin behbahani its time to mow the flowers. These are listed below in chronological order beginning with the most recent. Readdownload file report abuse winter poem of akhavan sales mediterranean center of social jul 2, 2015. Simin behbahani has expanded the range of traditional persian verse forms and produced some of the most significant works of persian literature in the twentieth century. She was an icon of modern persian poetry, iranian intelligentsia and literati. She is known for her poems in a ghazalstyle of poetic form.
Behbahani was hospitalized in tehran on 6 august 2014. Romantic nature in the poetry of simin behbahani with a. The twoway simin behbahani, renowned for her piercing and fierce language, published 19 books of poetry over the course of six decades. Simin behbahani, 87 poetry defined lioness of iran by emily langer simin behbahani, a towering figure in persian literature who became known as the lioness of iran for poetry in which she elegantly and courageously laid bare the suffering of the destitute, the marginalized and the oppressed, died aug. She joined iran radio council of poetry along with other notable iranian poets in 1969. Irans national poet simin behbahani died tuesday of heart failure at the age of 87, according to the countrys official news agency. President obama read a poesy of simin behbahani in its nowrooz greeting and message of hope for the. Simin behbahani simple english wikipedia, the free. She was nominated twice for the nobel prize in literature, and received many literary awards around the world. Information and registration forms can be found on this pdf requiring the adobe reader for viewing.
Pdf schematization of womens issues and atypical psychic and. Aug 23, 2014 simin behbahani, a towering figure in persian literature who became known as the lioness of iran for poetry in which she elegantly and courageously laid bare the suffering of the destitute. Official site, in english and persian, for iranian poet, simin behbahani, including a biography, bibliography, sample poems, photos and videos. Last week iran detained international award winning film director jafar panahi and members of his family. Simin behbahani, a towering figure in persian literature who became known as the lioness of iran for poetry in which she elegantly and courageously laid bare the suffering of. Although a few authors in this list do not have their ethnic origin in the iranian people. Behbahani, simin, 19272014, iranian poet and political activist, b. Selected poems middle east literature in translation simin behbahani, farzaneh milani, kaveh safa on.
Simin behbahani, her surname also appears as bihbahani persian. The list is not comprehensive, but is continuously being expanded and includes persian writers and poets from iran, iraq, turkey, pakistan, syria, afghanistan, turkmenistan, tajikistan, uzbekistan, lebanon, azerbaijan and india greater persia. For a visually challenged 82yearsyoung iranian, how cool is that. Simin behbahani, celebrated poet known as the lioness of. In her later life she was forced to put poems online that could not be published on paper. Simin behbahani simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Her poems offer apertures into the daily life of the iranian people, revealing its subtleties. Nominated for the nobel prize in literature, simin behbahani was nicknamed the lioness of iran for what admirers saw as courage in the face of censorship. On this day a celebration that serves as a bridge from the past to the future i would like to close with a quote from the poet simin behbahani a woman who has been banned from traveling. Behbahani expanded the poetic genre, known in iran as ghazal a type. Aug 25, 2014 these lines are from the poem its time to mow the flowers written by the late simin behbahani, who was considered by many to be irans most influential poet. Simin behbahani khalili was born in 1927 in tehran, iran, of literary parents. She is irans national poet and an icon of the iranian intelligentsia and literati who affectionately refer to her as the lioness of iran. Dec 01, 1998 as a muslim woman writing in iran, simin behbahani s collections contain some of the seminal work of twentiethcentury persian literature.
Simin behbahani, born in 1927, in tehran, of literary parents her father, abbas khalili. Simin behbahani, adrienne rich and the global life of the political ghazal marie ostby is a ph. Behbahani, simin article about behbahani, simin by the. Akhavan sales, zemestanwinter, resurrection of words, deviation from the norm, defamiliarization, contemporary poetry. Simin behbahani, whose name at birth was simin khalili persian.
Aug 19, 2014 irans national poet simin behbahani died tuesday of heart failure at the age of 87, according to the countrys official news agency. A champion of human rights, behbahani is in iran and has been banned from leaving the country. Social ideas in poetry of four female contemporary poet parvin etesami, corough fari tahereh safarzadeh and simin behbahani mohsen izadyar1i fatemeh azizmohammadi2 1department of persian literature, arak branch, islamic azad university, arak, iran. Poetical works the broken lute sehtare shekasteh, 1951. Mar 22, 2011 president obama reading a poesy of simin behbahani and appreciation of the poet agaahi. The daughter of intellectuals, she studied law at the univ. Simin behbahani, 82, said she was about to fly to france when her passport was confiscated at tehran airport. Written over almost a halfcentury, much of her work reflects the traumatic experiences that have shaped recent iranian history. Parvin started composing poetry when persian literature was on the. Aug 28, 2014 simin behbahani, who has died aged 87, was irans most famous female poet, credited with reinventing the ghazal, the lyrical sonnet associated with the classical persian poets.
Behbahani, simin article about behbahani, simin by the free. The ghazals of simin behbahani are a unique style, which defines her as a one and only, and well distinguished in her style of poetry. The twoway poet simin behbahani urges iranians to keep up their fight for freedom. When she was 14 her mother sent one of her poems to mohammad taqi bahar, in effect irans poet laureate and the editor of a literary journal.
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