TRAVELER

Taken in Tehran

Taken in Tehran

Photo essay: People & places

by Sepideh B.
11-Sep-2008

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INFLUENCE

Persia in Shakespeare

New book: "Shakespeare, Persia, and the East"

11-Sep-2008 (6 comments)
Shakespeare was interested in the travels of his countrymen. He dealt with or touched upon foreign trade and commerce in several of his plays. He must have read some books and pamphlets on the travels of the Sherleys in particular. In the autumn of 1601 a little book by William Parry was published in London. Parry had accompanied Sir Anthony from the beginning of his journey. On his return to England he wrote his book that was the first on the travels of the Sherleys to Persia. It is “an account of Sir Anthony’s journey from England to Italy and then to Antioch, Aleppo down the Euphrates to Babylon, across the Tigris River into Persian territory to Qazvin, the former capital thence to Isfahan the new capital, the seat of Shah Abbas, the Sophy...>>>

HOLYLANDS

Caught in troubles by a few

Review: Sayed Kashua's "Let it be Morning"

09-Sep-2008 (2 comments)
Translated from the Hebrew by Miriam Shlesinger, this bestselling semi-autobiographical novel, Let it be Morning* by famed 30-year old Israeli-Arab journalist Sayed Kashua, exhibits a haunting and highly-disturbing narrative, comprising a series of political events that revolve around one reporter's brooding introspection of modern day Israel. Rude awakenings promise to seal the character's changed identity permanently and without consent. It is the unnamed character's shock at seeing his township being rapidly stripped away of its familiar Arabic history and territorial links with Israel, that the reader must reluctantly come to terms with>>>

CHOO CHOO

پنبه های فشرده در زمان

مدادم را با خودتراش تیز می کنم. می نویسم و می نویسم تا آرام شوم. آنقدر که تو از عکس بیرون بیایی و در کنارم بنشینی.

09-Sep-2008
دستم را از پنجره ی قطار بیرون می آورم پنبه های زمان را به دست می گیرم فشارش می دهم . چکه های آب به آرامی بیرون می ریزد. کف دستم را باز می کنم در لابه لای شیارهای دستم آب جمع می شود. به داخل کوپه ام می روم _ به آرامی می نوشم . طعمش زبانم را بی حس می کند و روحم را نوازش! دفتر کاغدی ام را باز می کنم. مداد قهوه ای رنگ را از جیب کتم بیرون می آورم دست چپم را سایه بان چشمانم می کنم تا آفتاب سفید کاغذ را نورانی نکند _ چون می خواهم از تو بنویسم. چون می خواهم از نوشته ام نور تو بتابد نه نور خورشید!>>>

POETRY

Elect is not from Electronic
09-Sep-2008 (3 comments)
I read the constitution
from end to end,
not as a lawyer
or looking to find
justification
for my own belief,
but for its simplicity
of passionate words
that strike a chord >>>

POETRY

Paper spoon
08-Sep-2008 (4 comments)
This night holds me so tightly in its palm,
as if to never love another, but outside
what remains is the inheritance
and an unfriendly notice.
I fumble through the memories, recalling
promises of life, never loving another.
Softly, I wait until the lush beginning
comes to me. I am pale yet ripe, >>>

FICTION

Diaries & Jallad

A novel: Chapter 15

08-Sep-2008
I am very upset that I can't find my new notebook and the 100 rupee inside it. I hope no one has stolen it from me. It has got to be somewhere in my room. I was able to finally get through to my mother. Baba is in Tehran trying to get them forgive me so that I could come back. Knowing them, I doubt he will succeed. I am not even sure I want him to succeed. How could I go back to Mohsen? Doesn't Maman know we are absolutely finished with each other? Today I like to sort things out, put everything into proper perspective. That means I have to write about Ahmad. If I had the will I would not bother with it. If.>>>

NAMJOO

Mersi!

Mersi!

Photo essay: Mohsen Namjoo's first U.S. concert

by Jahanshah Javid
07-Sep-2008 (51 comments)

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ART

Mandalas of the soul

Mandalas of the soul

Paintings by young women at the margins of Iranian society

by Jahanshah Javid
06-Sep-2008 (4 comments)

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POETRY

The Ambush of Mehrnoush

(In loving memory of Mehrnoush Ebrahimi 1948-1971)

06-Sep-2008 (22 comments)
On the anniversary of your death
what should I call you, a gone guerrilla? The first female
Fedayee gun-downed to death in an ambush? A girl
in strife who left life for something better?
I simply remember you as mild-mannered Mehroush
my friend and classmate at Tehran U's Medical school
where we shared a corpse to dissect in the third year
and laughed our hearts out calling it Akbar Agha! >>>

IRANIANS

Captured moments

Captured moments

Photo essay: Portraits between places

by François Bouchet
04-Sep-2008 (6 comments)

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STORY

Broken camera

Way before the revolution started, I was already hiding in my room

04-Sep-2008 (13 comments)
Spring of 79. I hadn’t yet turned twenty. It was the day of the demonstration against the banning of the last liberal newspaper, Ayandegan, only a few months after the revolution. Before we left home, Arash - my cousin and Kian’s brother - promised my parents he would protect me by swearing on the Koran to impress them, even though my parents never cared about religion, even though they knew Arash was a converted Communist. It was a warm day. “Wear comfortable shoes and don’t carry anything heavy,” Arash said. Once we joined the line of protesters, Arash grabbed my hand and didn’t let it go>>>

NAMJOO

The Iceman Cometh

Possibly the most anticipated Iranian artist of our decade getting ready for his first US Tour.

03-Sep-2008 (15 comments)
For the past 6 months the improbable rumor that we might be able to see the infamous Mohsen Namjoo perform here in the US, (See Concert Tour Schedule) had me all but shuddering with delight. Little does anyone know how excited I became when rumor became fact, as it was finally announced and his Namjoo-ness appeared from the door of the airplane, fresh from Austria, at SFO a few weeks ago. He is here! Not many know Namjoo, and the impact he is sure to have on those souls lucky enough to be baptized and forgiven by his lyrics, while simultaneously being gloriously whipped into sublime ecstasy by his biting sound. Or vice versa depending on how your particular wind blows.>>>

PARTY

حزب فراگیر!

صبح اول صبحی گذاشتیمون سر کار هاااا!

03-Sep-2008 (one comment)

میخوام یه حزب سیاسی درست کنم، قاسم!
چی میگی؟ برای کی؟
برای کی؟ برای همه!
خب این همه حزب و دسته هست، چرا دکون تازه باز می کنی؟
اینا به درد نمیخورن! هر کی سرش تو یه آخوری بنده. باید یک حزب فراگیر باشه ..
اوهوم، فراگیر! یعنی ...
آره دیگه، کاملن دموکراتیک و مردمی که همه توش جا بگیرن ..
یعنی مثلن سعید مرتضوی هم میتونه عضو بشه! >>>

HERITAGE

فارسینامه

این مجموعه امید دارد، تا راه پیشرفت را بر جوانان توانا و عامه امیدوار روشنتر سازد

03-Sep-2008 (4 comments)
ایران هزار سال تمدن و تاریخ پارسی قبل از اسلام را نیز در خاطره اجتماعی خود محفوظ دارد، که حتی به موجودیت کشور بعد از سلطه اعراب هم رنگی جدا و طرحی سوا می بخشد. این گذشته باستانی با حفظ زبان فارسی در برابر عربی و با تثبیت مذهب تشیع در مقابل اسلام سُنی، ایران را پیوسته از جریانات غالب اسلامی و عربی جدا ساخته و حتی به رقابت و دشمنی کشانده است. در ارتباط با تمدن غرب نیز با وجود قرنها سلطه و تأثیر یونانی، نفوذ استعماری روس و انگلیس در قرن نوزدهم و روند غرب گرایی و اصلاح طلبی قرن بیستم، ایران تأثیر بسیار پذیرفته اما هویت رفتاری و فرهنگی خود را حفظ نموده است. سومین عامل تعیین کننده در حیات هزار ساله اخیر ایران، نقش اجتماعی و نظامی اقوام سلحشور و مهاجر ترک تبار است که با وجود تشکیل تنها یک چهارم جمعیت، اکثریت قریب به اتفاق حکومتهای ایرانی تا قرن بیستم را رهبری نموده اند. >>>

FICTION

Diaries & Jallad

A novel: Chapters 13 and 14

03-Sep-2008
A big thank you to aunt Maryam for sending me this precious journal as a new year gift, eidee. She wants me to make a daily entry, long or short, even if it means only a sentence. She is confident I am going to thank her one day for encouraging me to do this. I should have begun with a self-introduction. My name is Zohreh. no Zahra. Actually it is both, not at the same time of course. I guess it depends on which school I happen to be going to. As long as I was at Mehrain, where religion is taken very seriously, I was Zahra my birth certificate name>>>

SEX

Bedroom Do’s and Don’ts

2,500 Years of Sexual Relations in Iran

02-Sep-2008 (25 comments)
Male superiority was a sine qua non, also in sexual matters. Women were on the receiving end; they were dominated by their underlying position by the man, and this showed who was in charge. Because marriage gives the man the right to have sex with his wife, a woman can neither leave her husband’s bed when she has been invited nor refuse to come; she even has to cut her prayers short when he wants to sleep with her. Furthermore, because a man has paid for his wife, (although payment of the mahr usually takes place on divorce), only he has the right to decide when and how he wants to have sex, which he also might want for medical reasons. For only men are allowed to show sexual desire, also towards women with whom they are not married>>>

STORY

Witness

I knew I was going to be safe as long as my homework was perfect, as long as Mrs. Mostofi remained our family’s friend

02-Sep-2008 (12 comments)
It’s hard to be a victim. It is harder to be a witness. Every man in my childhood city -- at some point in their lives -- was one of my father’s students. He had built the first high school of the town, one that allowed only boys. This accomplishment made him walk with pride, showing off his weighty influence. We lived at the end of a narrow passageway, where, in summertime, the neighborhood boys played with a plastic ball in the dusty road, fought over their turn to ride the postman’s bicycle, and the silence of their absence was the sign of approaching cold. Mrs. Mostofi, my first grade teacher, lived next door. Every time she made Halva for a religious mourning or celebration, her maid brought a plate to us>>>

LESSON

Women 101

All the women inside of me...

02-Sep-2008 (20 comments)

There is a little girl, bright-eyed and hopeful inside of me.

There is a young woman, with a brisk gait, a boisterous laughter, a pair of feet full of dance, and a deep curiosity about people and places never seen inside of me.

There is a sultry woman, a seductress, a mistress, a lover, full of knowing touches and promising glances and welcoming kisses inside of me.

There is a giving mother, a nurturer, and a provider inside of me.

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RECOMMENDED

Be Longing

BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World

02-Sep-2008 (5 comments)
I hate it when I take too long to write a review. It seems these days that the intense competition on Iranian.com has created a speed match of postings. But I am sorry, I just can't work that way. Especially when I really like something. I want to savour it a bit before I jump in and write about it. So, to those of you who have read a previous review of "BELONGING", I apologize, hopefully you'll like mine as well. If you will trust me though, and don't want to read my justification, you can know that this is simply one of those books you need to have on your shelves, one you can look for and find at a party, and hand to one of your closer American friends and smilingly say, "Here Bradley, this will explain everything!" >>>