Forugh Farrokhzad ( fa, فروغ فرخزاد; 28 December 1934 – 14 February 1967) was an influential
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...
and
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...
.
She was a controversial
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
poet and an iconoclast,
[*] feminist author.
Forugh Farrokhzad died at the age of 32 due to a car accident.
Early life and career
Forugh Farrokhzad was born in Tehran on 28 December 1934, to career military officer Colonel Mohammad Bagher Farrokhzad (the Farrokhzad family hail from
Tafresh) and his wife Touran Vaziri-Tabar. The fourth of seven children (Amir, Massoud, Mehrdad,
Fereydoun
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,
Pooran, Gloria), she attended school until the ninth grade, then was taught painting and sewing at a girls' school for the manual arts. At the age of 16, she was married to satirist
Parviz Shapour
Parviz Shapour (February 23, 1924 – 2000) was an Iranian artist and man of letters known for his witticisms and for his brief and troubled marriage to poet Forough Farrokhzad. He was a student of Nima Youshij and attended ''Sanati School.''
In ...
. She continued her education with painting and sewing classes and moved with her husband to
Ahvaz
Ahvaz ( fa, اهواز, Ahvâz ) is a city in the southwest of Iran and the capital of Khuzestan province. Ahvaz's population is about 1,300,000 and its built-up area with the nearby town of Sheybani is home to 1,136,989 inhabitants. It is hom ...
. Her only child, a son named Kamyar Shapour (subject of ''The Return''), was born a year later.
"After her separation, and later her divorce (1954), from Parviz, she lost custody of her son because she had had several affairs. Her son Kamyar, whom she affectionately calls Kami, was taken away from her and brought up by Parviz and his family. Forugh was given very few visiting rights, and the child was brought up with the impression that his mother had abandoned him for poetry and the pursuit of her sexual pleasures. The thought of her son thinking that she willingly abandoned him, was a source of great sorrow and constant torment for her."
Farrokhzad spent nine months in Europe in 1958. After returning to Iran, in search of a job she met filmmaker and writer
Ebrahim Golestan
Ebrahim Golestan ( fa, , born 19 October 1922) is an Iranian filmmaker and literary figure with a career spanning half a century. He has lived in Sussex, United Kingdom, since 1975.
He was closely associated with the eminent Iranian poet Foro ...
, who reinforced her own inclinations to express herself and live independently, and with whom she began a love affair. She published two more volumes, ''The Wall'' and ''The Rebellion'', before traveling to
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quru River valley in Iran's historic Azerbaijan region between long ridges of vo ...
to make a film about Iranians affected by
leprosy
Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve d ...
. This 1962 documentary film, titled ''
The House is Black
''The House Is Black'' ( fa, خانه سیاه است) is an acclaimed Iranian documentary short film directed by Forugh Farrokhzad.
The film is a look at life and suffering in a leper colony and focuses on the human condition and the beauty of ...
'', is considered to be an essential part of the Iranian New Wave movement. During the 12 days of shooting, she became attached to Hossein Mansouri, the child of two lepers. She adopted the boy and brought him to live at her mother's house.
She published ''Reborn'' in 1964. Her poetry at that time varied significantly from former Iranian poetic traditions.
Feminine perspective in Farrokhzad's poetry
Farrokhzad's strong feminine voice became the focus of much negative attention and open disapproval, both during her lifetime and in posthumous reception of her work.
In a radio interview, when asked about the feminine perspective in her poems, Farrokhzad replied: "If my poems, as you say, have an aspect of femininity, it is of course quite natural. After all, fortunately, I am a woman. But if you speak of artistic merits, I think gender cannot play a role. In fact to even voice such a suggestion is unethical. It is natural that a woman, because of her physical, emotional, and spiritual inclinations, may give certain issues greater attention, issues that men may not normally address. I believe that if those who choose art to express their inner self, feel they have to do so with their gender in mind, they would never progress in their art -- and that is not right. So when I write, if I keep thinking, oh I'm a woman and I must address feminine issues rather than human issues, then that is a kind of stopping and self-destruction. Because what matters, is to cultivate and nourish one's own positive characteristics until one reaches a level worthy of being a human. What is important is the work produced by a human being and not one labelled as a man or a woman. When a poem reaches a certain level of maturation, it separates itself from its creator and connects to a world where it is valid based on its own merits." Emphasizing human issues, she also calls for a recognition of women's abilities that goes beyond the traditional binary oppositions:
Death
Farrokhzad died in a car accident on 14 February 1967, at the age of 32.
Although the exact circumstances of her demise have been the subject of much debate, the official story is that she swerved her jeep to avoid an oncoming school bus and was thrown out of her car, hitting her head against the curb. It was believed she died before reaching the hospital, however,
Farzaneh Milani in her book, ''Forugh Farrokhzad: A Literary Biography With Unpublished Letters / فروغ فرخ زاد: زندگی نامه ادبی همراه با نامه های چاپ نشده (Farsi)'', cites an interview with
Ebrahim Golestan
Ebrahim Golestan ( fa, , born 19 October 1922) is an Iranian filmmaker and literary figure with a career spanning half a century. He has lived in Sussex, United Kingdom, since 1975.
He was closely associated with the eminent Iranian poet Foro ...
who speaks about Farrokhzad's final moments where she died in his arms. Farrokhzad's poem "Let Us Believe in the Dawn of the Cold Season" was published posthumously, and is considered by some to be one of the best-structured modern poems in
Persian.
Legacy
Farrokhzad's poetry was banned for more than a decade after the
Islamic Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
.
A brief literary biography of Forough, Michael Hillmann's ''A lonely woman: Forough Farrokhzad and her poetry'', was published in 1987.
Farzaneh Milani's work ''Veils and words: the emerging voices of Iranian women writers'' (1992) included a chapter about her.
Abdolali Dastgheib, literary critic writer, published a critical review of Forough’s poems titled ‘The Little Mermaid’ (Farsi title پری کوچک دریا) (2006) in which he describes Forugh as a pioneer in modern Farsi poetry who symbolizes feminism in her work.
Nasser Saffarian has directed three documentaries about her life: ''The Mirror of the Soul'' (2000), ''The Green Cold'' (2003), and ''Summit of the Wave'' (2004), and
Sholeh Wolpé
Sholeh Wolpé ( fa, شعله ولپی) is an American poet, playwright, and literary translator. She was born in Iran, and lived in Trinidad and England during her teenage years, before settling in the United States.
Biography
Sholeh Wolpé was ...
has written a short biography of Farrokhzad's life in "Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad" (2007).
In February 2017, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Farrokhzad's death, the 94-year-old Golestan broke his silence about his relationship with her, speaking to
Saeed Kamali Dehghan of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
''.
“I rue all the years she isn’t here, of course, that’s obvious,” he said. “We were very close, but I can’t measure how much I had feelings for her. How can I? In kilos? In metres?”
Sholeh Wolpé
Sholeh Wolpé ( fa, شعله ولپی) is an American poet, playwright, and literary translator. She was born in Iran, and lived in Trinidad and England during her teenage years, before settling in the United States.
Biography
Sholeh Wolpé was ...
writes, "Farrokhzad is Iran's most revered female poet. She was a poet of great audacity and extraordinary talent. Her poetry was the poetry of protest-- protest through revelation-- the revelation of the innermost world of women (considered taboo until then), their intimate secrets and desires, their sorrows, longings, aspirations and at times even their articulation through silence. Her poems are still relevant in their advocacy for women’s liberation and independence."
Translations of Farrokhzad's works
*
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: Mohammad Al-Amin,
Gassan Hamdan
*
Azeri
Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most nume ...
:
Samad Behrangi
*
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
:
** ''Let Us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season'', translated and edited by Elizabeth T. Gray, Jr., (
New Directions Publishing
New Directions Publishing Corp. is an independent book publishing company that was founded in 1936 by James Laughlin and incorporated in 1964. Its offices are located at 80 Eighth Avenue in New York City.
History
New Directions was born in 19 ...
, 2022) .
** ''Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad'', translated and edited by
Sholeh Wolpé
Sholeh Wolpé ( fa, شعله ولپی) is an American poet, playwright, and literary translator. She was born in Iran, and lived in Trinidad and England during her teenage years, before settling in the United States.
Biography
Sholeh Wolpé was ...
, (
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington unt ...
:
University of Arkansas Press
The University of Arkansas Press is a university press that is part of the University of Arkansas and has been a member of the Association of University Presses since 1984. Its mission is to publish peer-reviewed books and academic journals. It ...
, 2007) .
** ''Another Birth: Selected Poems'', translated by Ali Salami, (Zabankadeh Publications, 2001) .
** Hasan Javadi and Susan Sallée translated ''Another Birth: Selected Poems'' of Forugh Farrokhzad with her letters and interviews in 1981. A revised edition of the same volume is published by Mage Publishers (Washington, DC) in 2010 as a bilingual edition.
** ''Bride of Acacias: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad'', translated by Jascha Kessler and Amin Banani, (Caravan Books, Delmar, N.Y., 1982) .
** ''A Rebirth: Poems'', translated by David Martin, with a critical essay by Farzaneh Milani (Mazda Publishers, Lexington Ky., 1985) .
** ‘’I Pity The Garden’’ was included in ''The Green Book of Poetry'' edited by
Ivo Mosley
Ivo Adam Rex Mosley (born 1951) is a British writer. His career has encompassed ceramics, poetry, social commentary, opera and musical theatre. His focus of the last few years is on works of non-fiction relating to politics and monetary reform.
...
, (Frontier Publishing, Norfolk, 1993), later reprinted as ''Earth Poems: Poems From Around The World To Honor The Earth'' (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996) .
*
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
:
Mahshid Moshiri, Sylvie Mochiri (pen name : Sylvie M. Miller)
*
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
:
Annemarie Schimmel
Annemarie Schimmel (7 April 1922 – 26 January 2003) was an influential German Orientalist and scholar who wrote extensively on Islam, especially Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.
Early life and education
...
*
Italian: Domenico Ingenito
*
Kurdish: Haidar Khezri, ''It is Only Sound that Remains: The Life and Legacy of Forough Farrokhzad, with Translation of Two Collections of her Poetry ("Another Birth" and "Let Us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season"),'' published by
Salahaddin University
Salahaddin University-Erbil (''Zankoy Selaheddîn-hewler'', ''زانکۆی سەلاحەدین-هەولێر'' in Kurdish) is one of the public higher education institution in the North of Iraq and especially in Kurdistan region. It is located in ...
Press 2016.
*
Nepali
Nepali or Nepalese may refer to :
Concerning Nepal
* Anything of, from, or related to Nepal
* Nepali people, citizens of Nepal
* Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...
: Collected in Manpareka Kehi Kavita translated by
Suman Pokhrel
Suman Pokhrel ( ne, सुमन पोखरेल; born on September 21, 1967) is a Nepali poet, lyricist, playwright, translator and artist. Universities in Nepal and India have included his poetry in their syllabus.
Suman Pokhrel is the s ...
*
Russian: Viktor Poleshchuk
*
Swedish: Namdar Nasser
*
Turkish: Hashem Khosrow-Shahi, Jalal Khosrow-Shahi
*
:
Fehmida Riaz published by 'Sheherzade Publications' Karachi
*
Uzbek:
**
Khurshid Davron published by "Qirq bir oshiq daftari" Tashkent
** "Qayg‘u guli", Tashkent, 2019-yil
Bibliography
*
Sholeh Wolpé
Sholeh Wolpé ( fa, شعله ولپی) is an American poet, playwright, and literary translator. She was born in Iran, and lived in Trinidad and England during her teenage years, before settling in the United States.
Biography
Sholeh Wolpé was ...
, Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad, (Fayetteville
rkansas University of Arkansas Press, 2007).
*Michael Craig Hillmann, ''A lonely woman: Forough Farrokhzad and her poetry'' (Three Continents Press, Washington, D.C., 1987). , .
Documentaries and other works
Only Voice Remains English language award-winning short experimental documentary about Forugh Farrokhzad using
Sholeh Wolpe's translations. Directed by London Based filmmake
Makez Rikweda
*''I Shall Salute the Sun Once Again'', English-language documentary about Forough Farrokhzad, by Mansooreh Saboori, Irandukht Productions 1998.
* ''Moon Sun Flower Game'', German documentary about Forough Farrokhzad's adopted son Hossein Mansouri, by Claus Strigel, Denkmal-Film 2007.
* ''The Bride of Acacias'', a play about Forough Farrokhzad by
Ezzat Goushegir.
* ''Song of a captive bird'', a novel about Forough Farrokhzad by
Jasmin Darznik
Jasmin Darznik is the ''New York Times'' bestselling author of three books, ''The Bohemians'', ''Song of a Captive Bird'', a novel inspired by the life of Forugh Farrokhzad, Iran's notorious woman poet, and ''The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mot ...
.
Further reading
*
Sholeh Wolpé
Sholeh Wolpé ( fa, شعله ولپی) is an American poet, playwright, and literary translator. She was born in Iran, and lived in Trinidad and England during her teenage years, before settling in the United States.
Biography
Sholeh Wolpé was ...
, ''Sin: Selected poems of Forugh Farrokhzad'', (Fayetteville
rkansas University of Arkansas Press, 2007).
*Manijeh Mannani, ''The Reader's Experience and Forough Farrokhzad's Poetry'', Crossing Boundaries - an interdiciplinary journal, Vol. 1, pp. 49–65 (2001).
* Michael Craig Hillmann, ''An Autobiographical Voice: Forough Farrokhzad'', in ''Women's Autobiographies in Contemporary Iran'', edited by
Afsaneh Najmabadi
Afsaneh Najmabadi ( fa, افسانه نجمآبادی; born 29 December 1946) is an Iranian-born American historian, gender theorist, archivist, and educator. She is the Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and of Studies of Women, Gend ...
(Cambridge
assachusetts Harvard University Press, 1990). .
* Ezzat Goushegir, ''The Bride of Acacias,'' (a play about Forough Farrokhzad).
* Chopra, R M, "Eminent Poetesses of Persian", Iran Society, Kolkata, 2010.
* Dastgheib, Abdolali. 2006. The Little Mermaid, Critical Review of poems by Forough Farrokhzad. Amitis Publishers, Tehran, Iran. . (Farsi title پری کوچک دریا).
* Mohammad Reza Vaez Shahrestani, Forough’s Existentialist Lifeworld: A Minimalist Reading, Literature & Aesthetics
'' 28 (2): 33-50. 2018.
See also
*
Mina Assadi
Mina Assadi ( fa, مینا اسدی; born March 12, 1943) is an Iranian-born poet, author, journalist and songwriter who lives in exile in Stockholm, Sweden.
Author
She is known for writing about controversial and provocative subjects, especially ...
*
Simin Behbahani
Simin Behbahani, her surname also appears as Bihbahani (née Siminbar Khalili; fa, سیمین بهبهانی; 20 July 1927 – 19 August 2014) was a prominent Iranian contemporary poet, lyricist and activist. She is known for her poems in a ghaz ...
*
Parvin E'tesami
Parvin E'tesami (1907 – April 5, 1941) also known as Rakhshandeh Etesami ( fa, رخشنده اعتصامی), and Parvin Etesami ( fa, پروین اعتصامی), was an Iranian 20th-century Persian poet.
Life
Parvin E'tesami was born in 1907 i ...
*
Ebrahim Golestan
Ebrahim Golestan ( fa, , born 19 October 1922) is an Iranian filmmaker and literary figure with a career spanning half a century. He has lived in Sussex, United Kingdom, since 1975.
He was closely associated with the eminent Iranian poet Foro ...
References
External links
*
*
Website with poems by FarrokhzadWords Without Borders CampusThe Legendary Iranian Poet Who Gave Me Hope, Literary HubInterview on Pusle BerlinFAFND*
ttp://www.foroughfarrokhzad.org/ Another website containing her poems in EnglishIran Chamber's Article on Forugh a biography by Professor
Iraj Bashiri,
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...
Women Voices for ChangeForough's poem translated by Mohammad Rajabpur
Listen to some of her poems by her own voice
*Interview with
Simin Behbahani
Simin Behbahani, her surname also appears as Bihbahani (née Siminbar Khalili; fa, سیمین بهبهانی; 20 July 1927 – 19 August 2014) was a prominent Iranian contemporary poet, lyricist and activist. She is known for her poems in a ghaz ...
on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of Forugh Farrokhzad's death on Thursday 13 February 2007
BBC PersianForugh Farrokhzad's poem ''Reborn'' as translated and recited by Sholeh Wolpé* (website about her)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrokhzad, Forugh
Persian-language poets
20th-century Iranian poets
Iranian documentary filmmakers
Iranian film directors
Iranian women film directors
People from Tehran
1935 births
1967 deaths
Road incident deaths in Iran
Persian-language women poets
20th-century women writers
20th-century poets
Iranian women writers
Women documentary filmmakers
Poets from Tehran