Simin Behbahani

Simin Behbahani (also spelled Bihbahani; née Siminbar Khalili;

In the course of her career, Behbahani was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and received numerous literary accolades from around the world. Her work not only enriched Persian literature but also highlighted her role as a significant cultural and intellectual figure in Iran.

Early life and family

Simin Behbahani, whose name at birth was Siminbar Khalili (سيمين بر خليلی), was the daughter of Abbas Khalili, a poet, diplomat, newspaper publisher, and editor of the (English: action) newspaper, and Fakhr-Ozma Arghun, a poet and teacher of the French language.

Career Simin Behbahani started writing poetry at twelve and published her first poem at the age of fourteen. She used the "Char Pareh" style of Nima Yooshij and subsequently turned to ghazal. Behbahani contributed to a historic development by adding theatrical subjects and daily events and conversations to poetry using the ghazal style of poetry. She has expanded the range of traditional Persian verse forms and has produced some of the most significant works of Persian literature in the 20th century.

She was President of the Iranian Writers' Association and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999 and 2002. In 2013, she was awarded the Janus Pannonius Grand Prize for Poetry.

In early March 2010, she could not leave the country due to official prohibitions. As she was about to board a plane to Paris, police detained her and interrogated her "all night long". She was released but without her passport. Her English translator, Farzaneh Milani, expressed surprise at the arrest and detention, as Behbahani was then 82 and nearly blind, "we all thought that she was untouchable." On 1 September 2008, Behbahani, along with a group of women's rights activists, appeared at the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament of Iran) to protest the proposed Family Protection Bill. Addressing a member of parliament, she said: "Sir, I did not vote for you, because I do not even recognize your parliament, but I came here to tell you not to betray the people who voted for you. Do not allow a bill to pass that is against the women of Iran."

On 8 March 2010, when Behbahani was about to travel to Paris for medical treatment and to deliver a speech on International Women's Day, she was stopped by security agents. Her passport was confiscated at the airport, and she was informed that she was “banned from leaving the country.”

Behbahani’s English translator, Farzaneh Milani, expressed astonishment at her arrest and several hours of interrogation at the age of 82, when she was almost completely blind.

Until her death, Simin Behbahani served as the honorary chair of the board of trustees of the Sedigheh Dowlatabadi Library. Personal life She had two marriages, the first was to Hassan Behbahani and it ended in divorce. Her funeral, attended by thousands, was held on 22 August in Vahdat Hall, and her body was buried at Behesht-e Zahra.

Works

The Broken Lute [Seh-tar-e Shekasteh, 1951] Footprint [Ja-ye Pa, 1954] Chandelier [Chelcheragh, 1955] Marble [Marmar 1961] Resurrection [Rastakhiz, 1971] A Line of Speed and Fire [Khatti ze Sor'at va Atash, 1980] Arzhan Plain [Dasht-e Arzhan, 1983] Paper Dress [Kaghazin Jameh, 1992] A Window of freedom [Yek Daricheh Azadi, 1995] Collected Poems [Tehran 2003] Maybe It's the Messiah [Shayad ke Masihast, Tehran 2003] Selected Poems, translated by Ali Salami A Cup of Sin, Selected poems, translated by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa

Awards and honours 1998 – Human Rights Watch Hellman-Hammet Grant 1999 – Carl von Ossietzky Medal 2006 – Norwegian Authors' Union Freedom of Expression Prize 2009 – mtvU Poet Laureate 2013 – Janus Pannonius Poetry Prize, from the Hungarian PEN Club

English translations A Cup of Sin: Selected Poems, translated by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa (Syracuse University Press, 1999)