Fereydoun Faryad / Heaven Without A Passport (poetry)

Iranian poet, Fereydoun Faryad reads from his book of poetry Heaven Without A Passport 

Fereydoun Faryad (pen-name of Fereydoun Rahimi) was born in Khoramshahr,
Iran, in 1949. His hometown, occupied for two years by Iraqi forces
during the Iran-Iraq war, was completely destroyed. In 1985, after a few
years in Teheran, Faryad moved to Greece to study Modern Greek language
and literature. He lives in Athens.

Faryad is considered to be among the leading poets of the new generation
in Iran, and his poems have been translated into English, French,
Greek, and German. He was awarded the 2005 State Prize for Translation
in Greece. In 2006, Greece's State Televison produced a 60 minute film
about his life and works.

This collection by Fereydoun Faryad, his first to appear in English, was inspired by his residence in Greece. A sequence of 81 poems in a style that has been influenced by the work of Nazim Hikmet, Louis Aragon, Yannis Ritsos, as well as the classical Iranian poets. There is a gentleness and energetic hope in this work, a brightness like simple sunlight that triumphs over the black circumstances of poverty, exile, and war. Heaven without a Passport has yet to be published in its original language of Persian. In 1995, the author's own Greek translation was published in Athens and included a prologue by Greek poet Yannis Ritsos (included in this edition).

Scott King, translator, lives in Northfield, Minnesota. He is founder & editor of Red Dragonfly Press.