Ahmad Shamlou
Ahmad Shamlou - Ahmad Shamlou (December 12, 1925 - July 23, 2000)is Iran's most celebrated contemporary poet. Shamlou was prominent
both as a great historical literary figure and as a major poet. He was a journalist,
a playwright, a translator and a broadcaster. His historical contribution to
the reformation of Persian poetry has been the subject of many books. His poetry
has been translated into several languages, however it remains a relatively
undiscovered treasure in the West. He was a humanist and a socially minded intellectual
who has skillfully woven personal love and affection together with his social
attitudes. He lived always with hope and passion for justice.
Ahmad Shamlou was born on December 12, 1925, in Tehran to a family that was to move around Iran because of the duties of his father, who was an army officer. In 1942 His father took him to the north of Iran which was occupied by the Soviet Army. Shamlou was arrested by the Red Army for his political ideas and is sent to Rasht. He was released from jail in 1945 and left with his family for Azarbaijan. The separatists arrest him and his father for a short time. They were sent back to Tehran. Shamlou decided to leave school for good.
He married for the first time in 1947, and in this year he released his first collection of poems: The Forgotten Songs.
Second collection of poems: Manifesto, was published in 1951. He showed clear inclinations toward " Socialist ideology.
In 1952, he got a job in the Hungarian embassy as their Cultural Advisor. An in this year he third collection of poems, Metals and Sense, was banned and destroyed by the police. His translations of Gold in Dirt, by Sigmud Motritz and the voluminous novel. The Sons of a Man Whose Heart Was Made of Stone, by Morio Kai, together with all data gathered for his work on the colloquial culture of urban Iranian life (to be known as the Book of Streets) were also confiscated and destroyed. He escaped and went into hiding. Two years later he was arrested and kept in jail for 14 months.
He was freed in 1955. His four new collections of poems were taken and lost by a publisher. In 1956 He became the editor-in-chief of "Bamshad" literary magazine. He was separated from his wife after having two sons and one daughter.
He released his masterpiece in 1957, The Fresh Air, a collection of poems that
would influence Persian poetry profoundly. He also published a few studies on
classic Iranian poetry. And he married for a second time.
He met Ayda in 1962, beginning a loving relationship that had lasted until his
death. His translations of Andre Gide and Robert Merl were published.
Shamlou and Ayda were married in 1964. Two collection of his poetry are published: 'Ayda in Mirror' and 'Moment and Eternity'.
In 1965 new collections of poems were released: Ayda, Trees, Memories and the
Dagger.
The police closed down his weekly magazine in 1969. Of Air and Mirrors, a selection
of older poetry, was published, together with his collection of new poems, Odes
for the Earth.
He travelled to the United States in 1976 and gave poetry reading in many cities. In 1977 New poem: "Dagger on the Plate". He left Iran in protest of the Shah's regime and stayed in the United States for a year, giving lectures in American Universities. But he left the United States for Britain in 1978 to act as the editor-in-chief for a new publication called "Iranshahr"; resigned after 12 issues and returned to Iran just after the advent of the Revolution; rejoined the Union of Iranian Writer, began publishing a new periodical, "Ketab-e-Jom'e" to great success. This year was a very active year in his life, as he published many poems and translations, as well as giving numerous lectures and readings. He was also elected to membership of the Writer's Union's leadership. He was at this point considered the finest Iranian poet.
1979 was another year of intensive activity on different fronts. The first and second volumes of the Book of Streets went to print. He was re-elected as member of Writer's Union leadership. He was invited by "Interlit" in 1988, the World Literary Congress. He toured Europe giving many lectures and readings. His complete collection of poems was printed in Germany. He returned to Iran again. His physical condition deteriorated in 1996. He underwent several operations. And in 1997 his right foot was amputated due to severe diabetic problems.