Contemporaryمعاصر

1874–1926 · Tabriz; TehranDraft

A Qajar prince who brought everyday speech, wit and a sharp social eye into Persian verse at the turn of the 20th century.

His poems are out of copyright in most countries with a life-plus-70 term, but modern English translations usually are not. We publish only translations we have commissioned or have permission to use.

1883–1947 · Farahan; TehranDraft

A woman of the old Qajar elite who wrote, in private and in classical forms, about marriage and a woman's lot. Most of it was read only after her death.

Her poems are out of copyright in most countries with a life-plus-70 term, but modern English translations usually are not. We publish only translations we have commissioned or have permission to use.

1886–1951 · Mashhad; TehranDraft

The last great classical poet of Iran: poet laureate, constitutionalist, journalist, politician and the founder of modern Persian stylistics.

His poems are out of copyright in most countries with a life-plus-70 term, but modern English translations usually are not. We publish only translations we have commissioned or have permission to use.

1897–1960 · Yush, Mazandaran; TehranDraft

The father of modern Persian poetry, who loosened the rules of line and rhyme that had held for a thousand years.

Nima's poems are still in copyright in many countries. We will publish translations only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1906–1988 · Tabriz; TehranDraft

Master of the modern ghazal in Persian and author of the best-loved poem in Azerbaijani Turkish. Iran's National Poetry Day marks his death.

Shahriar's poems are in copyright. We publish them only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1907–1941 · Tabriz; TehranDraft

The most celebrated woman poet of early modern Iran, whose debate poems give voice to the poor, the orphaned and the overlooked.

Her poems are out of copyright in most countries with a life-plus-70 term, but modern English translations usually are not. We publish only translations we have commissioned or have permission to use.

1907–1987 · Kabul; IslamabadDraft

Afghanistan's foremost Persian poet of the 20th century: courtier, historian, diplomat and, at the end, an exile.

Khalili's poems are in copyright. We publish them only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1925–2000 · TehranDraft

Poet, translator and editor who freed Persian verse from metre altogether.

Shamlou's poems are in copyright. We will publish translations only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1926–2000 · TehranDraft

One of the most widely read poets of modern Iran, whose gentle love poems kept a foot in both the old music and the new.

Moshiri's poems are in copyright. We publish them only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1927–2014 · TehranDraft

She renewed the ghazal with new metres and the subjects of modern life, and was called the lioness of Iran.

Behbahani's poems are in copyright. We will publish translations only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1927–1996 · Isfahan; Tehran; ViennaDraft

Poet of Arash the Archer, who retold an ancient Iranian legend of sacrifice in the new verse of Nima.

Kasraei's poems are in copyright. We publish them only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1928–1980 · KashanDraft

Painter and poet of Kashan, whose quiet, luminous lines are among the most loved in modern Persian.

Sepehri's poems are in copyright. We will publish translations only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1928–2022 · Rasht; Tehran; GermanyDraft

Writing as Sayeh, he was the great master of the ghazal in the 20th century and an editor of Hafez.

Ebtehaj's poems are in copyright. We publish them only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1929–1990 · Mashhad; TehranDraft

The poet of Winter, who fused the grandeur of Khorasani classical verse with Nima's new forms and a deep sense of loss.

Akhavan-Sales's poems are in copyright. We publish them only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1934–1967 · TehranDraft

The boldest voice of her generation, who wrote a woman's inner life with a frankness Persian poetry had not heard.

Forough's poems are in copyright. We will publish translations only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1936–2008 · Sirjan; TehranDraft

A poet who went from the international avant-garde of the 1960s to a poetry of faith, and translated the Qur'an into English and Persian.

Saffarzadeh's poems are in copyright. We publish them only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

born 1939 · Kadkan, Khorasan; TehranDraft

Poet under the name M. Sereshk and the most influential scholar of Persian literature of his generation.

Shafiei Kadkani's poems are in copyright. We publish them only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1941–2000 · Panjakent; DushanbeDraft

Tajikistan's best-loved modern poet, who made the Persian language and its classical heritage his great theme.

Loiq's poems are in copyright. We publish them only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1959–2007 · Gotvand, Khuzestan; TehranDraft

The leading poet of the generation that came of age with the revolution and the war, and a master of short, clear lines.

Aminpour's poems are in copyright. We publish them only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.

1980–2005 · HeratDraft

A young poet of Herat whose one book, of ghazals written under and after the Taliban, made her a symbol of Afghan women's writing.

Anjuman's poems are in copyright. We publish them only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.