ArteEast Quarterly: Waking Dreams (3) (poetry)

July 1, 2007




Waking Dreams (3) (poetry)

Mina Assadi. Translated by Niloufar Talebi

Had they lasted,
they would have blossomburst—
the almond trees
                that escaped the axe.

Had they remained,
    the children’s mouths would have brimmed
                    with ripe nectar of almond

and even with
bitter almonds—
        had they remained.
 
 

Mina Assadi was born in northern Iran in 1943. After completing a degree in Media Studies in Tehran, she began working as a journalist and critic for various newspapers and literary journals. She is the author of numerous books of poetry, essays and short-stories, most of which have only been published outside Iran. Her travels to Europe began before the Revolution, but due to censorship, she finally settled in Sweden in 1980. She is still forbidden from entering Iran.

An award-winning translator, Niloufar Talebi was born in England to Iranian parents. She is the founder of THE TRANSLATION PROJECT, www.thetranslationproject.org, whose mission is to bring contemporary Iranian literature to the world in multiple languages and media. Her translations have been anthologized and published in numerous journals and she has presented multimedia programs nationally. An Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Poetry Around the World, which she has edited and translated is forthcoming in summer 2008 (North Atlantic Books).
 
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