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Fatemeh Shams, also known as Shahrzad F. Shams (Persian: فاطمه شمس) is a contemporary Persian poet,[1] literary scholar[2] and translator,[3][4] currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and teaching Persian literature at the University of Pennsylvania. She previously taught Persian literature and language at Oxford University, Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, and School of Oriental and African Studies in London, UK.

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Fatemeh Shams earned her doctorate from Oxford University in year 2015 as a Clarendon Scholar in the field of Oriental Studies.[5] Shams is mostly known for her poems and writings on political and socio-literary issues in Iran.[6][7][8] Her poems have been translated into English, German, Arabic and Kurdish. Dick Davis, Nabaz Goran[9] and Susan Bagheatani have translated her works into English, Kurdish and German.

Fatemeh Shams was awarded as the best young Persian poet in 2012 by Jaleh Esfahani Poetry Foundation in London,[10] Shams has published her well-known poem collection, 88,[11] in 2013 which is also published in English. Her second collection was published in 2015 under the title of Writing in the Mist in London. Her third collection in English is called When They Broke Down the Door[12] which has received Latifeh Yarshater award in 2016[13] for unique and groundbreaking developments in the form of Ghazal. Shams is currently a member of London Middle East Institute, University of SOAS,[14] Middle East Centre at the University of Pennsylvania[15] and assistant professor of Modern Persian Literature at the University of Pennsylvania. Her book A Revolution in Rhyme: Poetic Co-Option Under Islamic Republic which has been published by Oxford University Press in 2021 is a study of poetic legitimacy and the role of poetry and poetics in the political ideology of the Islamic Republic.[16]

Early life

Born in 1983 in Mashhad, Shams started to write poetry at the age of 14 under the influence of poets such as Simin Behbahani, Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, Esmail Khoi. In 2000, she won the silver medal in the national olympiad of literature and a year later moved to Tehran to pursue her higher education in the field of Persian literature and then sociology at Tehran University. Fatemeh moved to London in 2006 and completed her degree in the field of Muslim Civilisation at Aga Khan University.[17] She later moved to Oxford University, Oriental Institute to complete her doctorate in the field of Iranian studies where she also taught Persian language and literature and published her first poems in English.[18] Since 2009 and a result of the controversial presidential election, she has been forced to live in exile following the arrest of her immediate family members (her sister and ex-husband) by the Iranian authorities.[19] As a result, she had to divorce her husband. Life in exile, migration, politics, war, human relationships, gender issues and socio-political taboos are among the most leading themes in her works. She is currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Career

Shams attended Tehran University to study sociology as an undergraduate. She migrated to England in 2006 to pursue her postgraduate studies at the Institute for the AKU-ISMC. After two years she joined Oxford University as a Clarendon Scholar. She graduated in 2015 with a DPhil in Oriental Studies. Broadly speaking, her research focus is the intersection of society, power, and literature. Her first monograph titled A Revolution in Rhyme: Poetic Co-option Under the Islamic Republic[16] focuses on this topic. She is also written essays on the relationship of poetry and power [20] and the social history of Persian literature [21][22] in Iran. The history of cultural organizations in the post-revolution period as well as the role taken by the state in literary production have been amongst her main academic interests in the past few years.[23]

Her poetry has received critical attention from renowned literary scholars including Ahmad Karimi Hakkak,[24] who was the keynote speaker in her poetry book launch at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).[25] In 2019 she was a contributor to A New Divan: A Lyrical Dialogue Between East and West.[26]

Poetry reading

• Book Launch (88), Poems by Fatemeh Shams, SOAS, London, September 2013 [27]
• Poetry reading at SOAS in 2013[28][29]
• Kelly Writers House in March, 2017[30]

See also

• Iranian Studies
• Persian literature
• List of Persian poets and authors

References

External links

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• Fatemeh Shams official website
• Poems in English
• Exile Writers
• Cemetery, Revolution and the Dead
• Life and Legends Fatemeh Shams, Translated by Dick Davis
• In the anxious alleyways of Tehran by Reza Mohammadi, BBC Persian
• Forough Farrokhzad and her daughters: a commentary on Fatemeh Shams's poetry by Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, Rooz Online
• A note on 88 poem collection by Masoud Behnoud
• Blogistan: women and blogging in Iran
• Why Authoritative States Are Afraid of Sadeq Hedayat?

Interviews

• Poetry and Politics in Iran
• Interview on 88 poem collection
• Poetry of Resistance and Female Poets in Iran

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