Coleman Barks

Coleman Bryan Barks (April 23, 1937 – February 23, 2026) was an American poet and literature faculty member at the University of Georgia. Although he neither spoke nor read Persian, he was a popular interpreter of Rumi, rewriting the poems based on other English translations.

He was a student of the Sufi Shaykh Bawa Muhaiyaddeen.

Career Barks taught literature at the University of Georgia for three decades. Due to his work, the ideas of Sufism have crossed many cultural boundaries over the past few decades. Barks received an honorary doctorate from University of Tehran in 2006.

Barks also read his original poetry at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. In March 2009, Barks was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame.

Rumi interpretations Barks published several volumes of his interpretations of Rumi's poetry since 1976, including The Hand of Poetry, Five Mystic Poets of Persia in 1993, The Essential Rumi in 1995, The Book of Love in 2003 and A Year with Rumi in 2006.

Controversies Barks has been criticized for removing references to Islam from the poetry of Rumi.

Original poetry Barks published several volumes of his own poetry, beginning with The Juice in 1972 and including Gourd Seed (1993); Tentmaking (2001); and, also in 2001, Club: Granddaughter Poems , a collection of poems written with and about his granddaughter, Briny Barks.

Death Barks died at his home in Athens, Georgia, on February 23, 2026, at the age of 88.

Discography

Other credits YearSongArtistAlbumRole2015"Kaleidoscope"ColdplayA Head Full of DreamsVocals (Interpretation of Rumi's "The Guest House"2022"Across the Oceans"Mamak KhademRemembranceVocals (Rumi interpretation)