On International Women's Day

March 8, the International Women's Day
Everything is Possible.

Not Gone with the Wind

A few months ago, I lost a stack of my original writing at Red Line train in Chicago. The grief of losing years of hard work inspired my friend Mahasti Shahrokhi, the author and poet living in Paris, to write a poem (Not Gone with the Wind) about our long journey we had to go through as Iranians, since 1979.

She dedicated the poem to me and all the years of my dedication to writing. Thank you Mahasti for your gift.

Read the whole poem in Gooya News

مهستی شاهرخی: بر باد نرفته، برای عزت گوشه‌گیر و روزانه نگاری غربت اش

........

اولیس نبودم تا اودیسه ای بنویسم،

زن بودم، پنه لوپه بودم من،

سفرم، گشتن به دور دنیا نبود

آلیس بودم من

سیاحتم رفتن به آن سوی آینه بود

و سفرنامه ام شد نوشتن فانتزی هایم

آلیسم من، در ذهن سفر می‌کنم بی وقفه

چون درختی در انتهای کویر

شاخه هایم در باد است

رویاهایم پر از هجرت و سفر

از برهوت نمی نویسم

حسرت ها و حرمان ها را به باد می‌سپارم

از کشف قاره جدیدم می‌نویسم

نوشتن برای آفریدن قاره جدیدی برای بشر،

قاره ای بدون اعدام،

قاره ای بدون شکنجه،

قاره ای بدون زور،

قاره ای که انسان، هم فرمانروا و هم فرمانبر انسان است

قاره ای متعلق به ژان وال ژان،

نان و مسکن و آزادی برای همه،

این را با جان خود نوشتم

و مانند گیسوانم

رها کردمش به دست باد

به دست قطار زمان

به دست امواج کلمات

با هر موج

متولد خواهم شد

با هر بار خوانش تو،

هر بار که ژان وال ژان، شمعدانهای نقره اسقف را از کلیسا بردارد

هر بار قرص نانی بدزدد تا شکم کودک گرسنه‌ای را سیر کند

هر بار از فاضلاب شهر، دانشجوی مجروحی را نجات بدهد

زنده می‌شوم من

من نمرده ام

جایی در میان «منسفیلد پارک»،

جای کوچکی کنار کوزت و فانتین، همدم خانواده «بنت»ام،

با هم از تونل زمان گذشته ایم و

همراه ژولیت، عشق را در ایتالیای قرون وسطا فریاد کرده‌ایم

بیهوده نبوده است اگر،

اگر ویلیام بتواند روی صفحات سپید کاغذ

و در سالن تئاتر، برای یک شب،

رومئو را به وصال ژولیت برساند

اگر فقط یک شب،

روی صفحات کاغذ،

عشق بر جنگ پیروز شود

پس نوشتن هرگز بیهوده نبوده است

..........

Where in the World

Listen to Katherine Sogolow, ending her short play LIZ'S-STRATAGEM-- a compact version of Aristophanes' anti-war play-- with a song Where in the World.

Fish

It was wonderful to attend AWP in Chicago this year!
The poem "Fish" by C.K.Williams is still resonating in my mind!

What Two Enemies Share

Read What Two Enemies Share
by Roya Hakakian

"As early as the sixth century B.C., Jews, exiled in Babylonia, found a savior in Persia’s Cyrus the Great, who helped them return to Israel. In the early 1940s, Iran became a refuge to Jews, who were this time fleeing Hitler’s army. Thousands owed their lives to the valorous conduct of Abdol-Hossein Sardari, the head of Iran’s diplomatic mission in France, who defied Nazi orders by issuing thousands of passports and travel documents to Jews. Even when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in top Holocaust-denying form, the descendants of the Polish survivors who chose to settle in Iran were laying flowers upon the graves of their loved ones in what’s known as the Polish Cemetery in Tehran.

Would the two nations allow their rulers to begin a war if they were aware of their depth of indebtedness to each other? By bombing Iran, Israel would be bombing a portion of Jewish history. If that happens, which side I would choose will not be a question. I will be twice destroyed by the two imperfect yet beloved cultures that each make up half of the woman I am."

Saving Face

Saving Face , a documentary film by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy received Oscar Award.

Farhadi's Oscar speech

“At this time, many Iranians all over the world are watching us and I imagine them to be very happy. They are happy not just because of an important award or a film or filmmaker, but because at the time when talk of war, intimidation and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country Iran is spoken here through her glorious culture. A rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics. I proudly offer this award to the people of my country. A people who respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment.”
— Asghar Farhadi, Director and Producer of the Academy Award winning Iranian film A Seperation