Simin Behbahani

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Simin Behbahani
Simin Behbahani

Simin Beh'bahāni [1] (Persian: سیمین بهبهانی) (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. She is Iran's national poet and an icon of the Iranian intelligentsia and literati who affectionately refer to her as the lioness of Iran.[2]

Simin Behbahani, whose real name is Simin Khalili [3] (سيمين خليلي), is the daughter of Abbās Khalili (عباس خلیلی), poet, writer and Editor of the Eghdām (Action) newspaper,[4] and Fakhr-e Ozmā Arghun (فخرعظمی ارغون), poet and teacher of the French language.[5] Abbās Khalili (1893-1971) wrote poetry in both Persian and Arabic and translated some 1100 verses of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh into Arabic.[6] Fakhr-e Ozmā Arghun (1898-1966) was one of the progressive women of her time and a member of Kānun-e Nesvān-e Vatan'khāh (Association of Patriotic Women) between 1925 and 1929. In addition to her membership of Hezb-e Democrāt (Democratic Party) and Kānun-e Zanān (Women's Association), she was for a time (1932) Editor of the Āyandeh-ye Iran (Future of Iran) newspaper. She taught French at the secondary schools Nāmus, Dār ol-Mo'allemāt and No'bāvegān in Tehran.[7]

Simin Behbahani started writing poetry at twelve and published her first poem at the age of fourteen. She used the "Char Pareh" style of Nima Yooshij and subsequently turned to ghazal.

Behbahani contributed to a historic development by adding theatrical subjects and daily events and conversations to poetry using the ghazal style of poetry. She has expanded the range of the traditional Persian verse forms and has produced some of the most significant works of the Persian literature in 20th century.

She is president of The Iranian Writers' Association and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997.

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[edit] Notes and References

  1. ^ Simin (سیمین) is the Persian word for Silvery, Lustrous or Fair, and Behbahani (بهبهانی), From Behbahan, refers to the people of Behbahan, a city in the Khuzestan Province of Iran.
  2. ^ Fatemeh Keshavarz, Banishing the Ghosts of Iran, The Chronicle Review of Higher Education, Vol. 53, No. 45, p. B6 (13 July 2007). [1]
  3. ^ Behbahani is thus her literary pseudonym.
  4. ^ Abbās Khalili, Persian Wikipedia.
  5. ^ Fakhr-e Ozmā Arghun, Persian Wikipedia.
  6. ^ Abbās Khalili, ibid.
  7. ^ Fakhr-e Ozmā Arghun, ibid.

[edit] Awards and honors

  • Human Rights Watch Hellman-Hammet Grant (1998)
  • Carl von Ossietzky Medal (1999)
  • Nomination for Nobel (2006)

[edit] Poetical Works

  • The Broken Lute [Seh-tar-e Shekasteh, 1951]
  • Footprint [Ja-ye Pa, 1954]
  • Chandelier [Chelcheragh, 1955]
  • Marble [Marmar, 1961]
  • Resurrection [Rastakhiz, 1971]
  • A Line of Speed and Fire [Khatti ze Sor'at va Atash, 1980]
  • Arzhan Plain [Dasht-e Arzhan, 1983]
  • Paper Dress [Kaghazin Jameh, 1992]
  • A Window of freedom [Yek Daricheh Azadi, 1995]
  • Collected Poems [Tehran 2003]
  • Maybe It’s the Messiah [Shayad ke Masihast, Tehran 2003] Selected Poems, translated by Ismail Salami
  • A Cup of Sin, Selected poems, translated by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa

[edit] External links

[edit] See also


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