Now out in Paperback!
The Persian Prison Poem can be purchased at a 30% discount directly from the publisher. Use code PAPER30.
I introduce the book here
I discuss the Christian Qasida of Khaqani and Christian themes in Persian prison poetry here
Some Reviews
- Iranian Studies (2023) Download Fatemeh Shams review of The Persian Prison Poem
- Acta Via Serica (2023) Download Kristof Szitar review of The Persian Prison Poem
From the book:
The Persian Prison Poem is part of the
Edinburgh Historical Studies of Iran and the Persian World book series.
It will be released in in South Asia by Primus Books.
Future Work
With Kayvan Tahmasebian, I am working on The Persian Prison Poem: An Anthology from South Asia to the Caucasus (generously funded by the British Institute of Persian Studies). You can download a preliminary table of contents for our anthology here: PPP Anthology.
Please get in touch if you come across poems about prison or poets who wrote about imprisonment in the Persianate world which are not mentioned in the Table of Contents.
Past Work
I have been working on this project ever since I began my PhD at Columbia University. My previous work on prison poetry includes:
- “Wearing the Belt of Oppression: Khāqānī’s Christian Qaṣīda and the Prison Poetry of Medieval Shirvān,” Journal of Persianate Studies 9.1 (2016): 19-44.
- “The Geographies of ʿAjam: The Circulation of Persian Poetry from South Asia to the Caucasus,” The Medieval History Journal 18.1 (2015): 87-119.
- “The Political Cosmology of Prison Poetics,” Literature Compass 11.7 (2014): 496-515.
Creative work
- My short story “The Imprisoned Poet & the Sultan. A historical fable about poetry and power.”
- The story was produced as an audio podcast entitled “The Prison Poem.”
- My prison poems, inspired by Khaqani. For example “Constellations,” nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2020 by the Chiron Review:
Finally, see my “Prison Literature Reading List, Medieval and Modern,” compiled when I first embarked on this subject as a PhD student. You’ll notice there a comment from the Iranian writer Reza Baraheni (d. 2022), who was imprisoned under the Shah.
EVENTS (PAST AND FUTURE)
Stay tuned for the next event related to The Persian Prison Poem, to be hosted by the Association of Iranica in Australasia on 23 November 2023 (9AM Australia time; 10pm UK time; 5pm Eastern Time, US)!
