Introducing New Books by Local Iranian American Authors
Ecotheology and Love: The Converging Poetics of Sohrab Sepehri and James Baldwin
by Bahar Davary
In Ecotheology and Love: The Converging Poetics of Sohrab Sepehri and James Baldwin, Bahar Davary points to the interrelation of religion, poetry, and ecology from a comparative perspective with an emphasis on decoloniality. This work shows how authors Sohrab Seperhi and James Baldwin sought social justice by building their works on love and an authentic way of knowing the world based on an interconnected knowledge of the self. The layers of depth in Sepehri and Baldwin’s works and their immediacy for our time has yet to be fully understood, but through Ecotheology and Love, Davary takes a significant step towards achieving such a fuller understanding.
Bahar Davary is professor of religious studies and affiliate faculty of the Ethnic Studies and Asian Studies Departments at the University of San Diego. She is author of Women and the Qur’an: A Study in Islamic Hermeneutics (2009).
To order the book go to: https://Rowman.com/Lexington
The Words That Bring Us to Dance
By Dr. Ali Arsanjani
The book is the English translation and interpretation of thirty Ghazals by Hafez, published by 1st World Publishing. The note on the back cover reads:
“The Words That Bring Us to Dance is an evocative journey into the soulful world of Hafez, the revered 14th-century Persian poet. Ali Arsanjani, following in the footsteps of major translators of yore, has ambitiously taken on the challenge of not only translating but also casting Hafez’s works as ghazals in English, a daunting feat that is sure to intrigue and delight readers.
This collection is intended to immerse the reader in Hafez’s profound reflections on love, spirituality, and the human experience. Each ghazal, while conscientiously translated, retains a semblance of the rhythmic heartbeat akin of its original form, attempting to retain some of the musicality and depth for which Hafez is renowned.
The pursuit of presenting the translations as English ghazals ensures an added layer of artistic interpretation, offering readers a fresh and innovative way to engage with the classic text. The title aptly encapsulates the central theme: words that stir the soul, prompting it to dance in ecstatic precognition of the Divine.
Beyond the translations, Arsanjani offers insights into the historical and cultural context of the verses. Their annotations elucidate the multi-layered meanings, making the poet’s timeless wisdom accessible to contemporary readers.
For both the uninitiated and those familiar with Hafez’s work, The Words That Bring Us to Dance is more than just a book; it’s an invitation to a mystical dance, a transcendent experience where poetry and spirituality intertwine, leading the reader to gateways toward the path of enlightenment.”
Dr. Ali Arsanjani is the Director of Applied AI Engineering at Google Cloud. He has been translating poems of Rumi and Hafez, among other poets. To access his works, go to rumiblog.com and MysticalVerse.com.
