Niloufar Talebi

Watch Niloufar’s TEDx Talk on Shamlou

Part memoir, part biography. “There are two books in this book, one portrait of me and one of Ahmad Shamlou. And they intersect," Talebi writes of Self-Portrait in Bloom.

A mix of lyrical prose and critical insights, Self-Portrait in Bloom chronicles Talebi’s encounter with Nobel Prize nominated Iranian poet Ahmad Shamlou’s genius and intertwines it with reflections on the politics of translation and power, a history of Iranian literature, and Talebi’s story of coming into her own as a woman, artist, and immigrant.

Self-Portrait in Bloom delves deep into culture, personal history, and pays homage to Tehran, the city of Talebi's childhood. Told in fragments of prose, poetry, and photographs, this lyrical exploration reimagines the memoir form and in a dramatic climax sets free the details of a hurt that can no longer limit the blossoming of an artist.

Praise:

"A hybrid wonder.”
— The Rumpus

“Brilliant writers can have brilliant debuts. Elegiac and deep diving into the mind of a genius existentialist, Niloufar Talebi's memoir, Self-Portrait in Bloom, is reminiscent of Sebald. This original work feels true to continuous life and disjointed memory -- separate yet forced to be connected. This is a compelling book by a true writer.”
— Amy Tan, author of Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir

"Self-Portrait in Bloom recounts the stories of poets, revolutions, women, and censorship. A celebration of the recreative power of memory and language, from the girl standing in front of her blue bedroom window watching snow, to the many lessons of silence — Talebi's ‘animal with two faces.’ It is a book of longing, haunted by history."
— Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa

"A passionate defense of the crucial role translation plays in connecting the world, Self-Portrait in Bloom also tells the story of Niloufar Talebi's courage in overcoming profound obstacles to bring her expert translations of world-class Iranian poet, Ahmad Shamlou, to new readers. A brave and remarkable feat."
— Edith Grossman, author of Why Translation Matters

"Niloufar Talebi offers a lyrical evocation of an Iranian childhood, of a girl growing into complicated maturity as an artist while bringing to life the great Iranian poet Ahmad Shamlou, whose art became intertwined with her own. For these achievements alone, her book would be well worth reading. But Talebi is after bigger game. Step by step, she lures us into a profound meditation on the power of poetry, the politics of language, and the art of translation--and then into the shocking spectacle of an artist stifled. This memoir is not just poignant, it's wrenching." 
— Tamim Ansary, author of West of Kabul, East of New York, and Games Without Rules

"A brutally honest memoir of a life built by words, destroyed by words, rebuilt by words." 
— Firoozeh Dumas, New York Times Bestselling Author of Funny in Farsi and Laughing Without An Accent.

"Niloufar Talebi has written an original and intriguing memoir. Dispensing with linearity, shuttling between her Iranian childhood and her American coming of age, she moves nimbly up and back along the space-time axis. A loving and contemplative spirit compels these pages forward." 
— Sven Birkerts, author of Changing the Subject: Art and Attention in the Internet Age

“Niloufar Talebi’s Self-Portrait in Bloom is not only a personal portrait that presents her marvelous translations of the poetry of the great Iranian poet, Ahmad Shamlou, a friend of the Talebi family, but it contains her hymn to and of Tehran in a brilliant prose-poem that makes that city memorable.”
— Jack Hirschman, Emeritus Poet Laureate of San Francisco

"Niloufar Talebi's superb translations of Shamlou's poetry convey a deep mastery and love of the immortal poet's texts, and are a major contribution in presenting Shamlou's literary greatness for Western readers. These translations are a work of love."
— Nahid Mozaffari, editor, Strange Times My Dear: The PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literature

“In Self-Portrait in Bloom Talebi treats nonfiction as a manicured garden where memoir, essay, commentary, scholarship, translation, and so much more coexist. She treats autobiography as a door to deeper reflection, not just introducing Shamlou to Western audiences who will not have heard of him before, but also interrogating the politics of translation that reflect and shape power relations between Iran and the United States.” 
— “Translation and Power,” Asterix Journal

“Niloufar Talebi breaks cultural barriers, walls for women, and harnesses this ability to break expectations and limitations of genre...She is clearly an unstoppable force for creativity and art in American culture. Other attempts at a hybrid genre include fiction-based collections but nothing reflective of Talebi’s new genre, which combines nonfiction, translation, and creative writing— perhaps the first book of its kind. It is clear that Americans need more of Niloufar Talebi: her translation, her story, and her lyrics...”
— Hannah Terry, Self-Portrait in Bloom Review