A reading with Iranian-American poet, writer, and librettist Sholeh Wolpé.
Join OXY ARTS and the Occidental College English Department for an evening reading by Iranian-American poet, writer, and librettist Sholeh Wolpé.
Wolpé's most recent work include The Invisible Sun – Attar (Harper Collins), Abacus of Loss: A Memoir in Verse (University of Arkansas Press), Abaco de Perdida (Visor Libros, España), Song of Exile for choir and Nava Avaz, a full length opera for 6 composers (premiere 2027). Her translations of Iranian poetry, in particular 12th century Sufi mystic poet Attar, and 20th century Iranian rebel poet Forugh Farrokhzad have garnered awards and established Wolpé a as a celebrated re-creator of Persian poetry into English.
She is the recipient of Opera America Discovery Award as well as a PEN/Heim, Midwest Book Award, and the Lois Roth Translation Prize. Her book, The Invisible Sun, was on PEN America award 2025 Long List. She is the Writer-In-Residence at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). She has lived in Iran, Trinidad, and United Kingdom and presently divides her time between California and Barcelona.
Sholeh Wolpé’s poems are political, satirical, and unflinching in the face of war, tyranny and loss. Talismanic and alchemical, they attempt to transmute experience into the magic of the imagined. But they also dare to be tender and funny lyrical moments.” – Chris Abani, poet and novelist
This event and exhibition are made possible by generous support from the Kathryn Caine Wanlass Charitable Foundation.
