Creative Intelligence:

“Niloufar is a treasure—a dynamic, inspiring presence whose creativity and insight left a lasting impact on our dental team and students at the University of the Pacific. Her workshops energized the room, elevated our practice, and reminded us of the human connection at the heart of healthcare. We can’t wait to work with her again!”
— Dr. Daniel Nam, DDS


Stanford Course Evaluations

“Excellent course. The course provided real insights into the creative process, both unique to each individual and shared. The instructor was engaging, always positive, and had tremendous breadth and depth of literature and creative writing.”

“This course turned out to be a powerful catalyst for me, not just for writing, but for nurturing my creativity in general. It has sharpened my observational skills, made me more disciplined and motivated, and shown me that there is joy in writing, not just struggle. Through the work we did in this class I learned that what matters most is showing up and putting in the time and effort.”

“I think Niloufar Talebi was a wonderful instructor. I felt her passion and loved how consistent she was with the structures and systems of her class. I loved that I felt encouraged, pushed, and guided. In previous online courses you don’t always feel that special spark from instructors or presenters. Niloufar truly makes the course materials and the assignments engaging.”

“Niloufar Talebi is a gem. She was generous, funny, and inspiring. Every session, she dropped little gems of wisdom on us that hit like bombs of insight. I hung on her every word, and sometimes watched the recorded video to write down exactly what she said. She encouraged us to continue to write, to explore our own themes and stories, and offered great advice on how to do so. She sprinkled us with fairy dust to allow us to write difficult pieces or to explore territory we’ve not explored before. And a bonus: she was extremely punctual and conscious of our time. Please hire her back! I want to take more courses from her! And make this one longer!”

"Niloufar Talebi is a master instructor and multidisciplinary artist. I am filled with new guidance, and inspiration. She is professional, punctual, warm, and thoughtful. Her feedback is constructive and leaves you ready to take the next step. She is exceptionally talented at elevating writers."

Undergraduates at PSU

“I thought creativity belonged to artists. I was wrong. This course showed me that creativity lives in math, in research, in problem-solving. It helped me stop waiting to be motivated, and start building a sustainable, energized way to approach any challenge.”

“Before this course, I didn’t even know I had a creative process—now I not only understand it, I’ve built one that reflects who I am. It’s changed how I study, how I write, how I think. This class didn’t just teach creativity—it taught me how to understand myself.”

“This course gave me permission to slow down, to play again, to take my ideas seriously. I used to rush through work. Now I pause, plan, and create with intention. I even started bringing creative thinking into my leadership and team dynamics.”

“I didn’t think I was creative. But through this process, I realized creativity is how I’ve survived, solved problems, changed careers, raised kids, and started over—again and again. I just never had a name for it. This course helped me claim it.”

Legal Interns at leading National Law Firm

“This workshop felt like the practical training I didn’t know I needed—it built on my law school communication courses but shifted my focus to something new: how the audience actually receives what I’m trying to say. I’d love to go even deeper.”

"The 'Creativity for Legal Minds' workshop introduced a more creative approach to legal writing, encouraging us to be more concise and intentional with our language. It challenged my assumption that legal writing must always be rigid and impersonal."


Harvard University

“October 1, 2023 To whom it may concern, As the Curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room, a landmark audio-visual archive and special collections reading library at Harvard University, I am honored to provide a recommendation for Niloufar Talebi. I had the pleasure of hiring Niloufar for a significant project that we undertook to research, identify, and describe a series of rare Iranian literary recordings from the mid-20th century.

Over the course of our collaboration, I was immensely impressed by her rigorous work ethic, her substantive knowledge of the field, and her dexterous ability to move between disciplines (e.g. scholarly fact-finding, archival cataloging, translation, and literary analysis).

In addition to her intellectual acumen, she brought to bear on her work an exceptional capacity to organize her findings; to work collaboratively with me and my staff; and to adhere to our institutional policies, metadata standards, and deadlines. Indeed, Niloufar's work far exceeded all of our project benchmarks.”

I am grateful for this opportunity to commend Niloufar’s work to you. I cannot recommend anyone more highly. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions. Yours sincerely, Christina Davis Curator of Poetry

https://library.harvard.edu/collections/galway-kinnell-recordings

Abraham in Flames

"Thank you for the sneak preview last night! We know tonight’s opening will also be wonderful. My family and I appreciate your defense of art in a troubled world. Our granddaughter recognized one of the singers from her Spanish class! Thank you for your beautiful book which I’ve begun to read.” — David Harrington (Kronos Quartet)

"Congrats again about the liftoff – that was such a magical experience last night” —Mason Bates

"I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to congratulate you after the wonderful and moving performance. You were always engaged with others and the many admirers of your work and the opera. It was quite unique in concept and beautiful to witness, both musically and visually. It’s quite amazing what you’e managed to accomplish and I’m honored that we were able to host the final two weeks of rehearsals before you moved into Z Space. “
— Paul Dresher

“Congratulations on a wonderful and moving performance. You were always engaged with others and the many admirers of your work and the opera, unique in concept and beautiful, both musically and visually. What you’ve managed to accomplish is quite amazing and I’m honored that we were able to host the final two weeks of rehearsals.“
— Paul Dresher

"Many thanks to you and your collaborating partners for creating and producing Abraham in Flames. It was quite thrilling to sit in that mysterious setting last night and watch the poetry unfold. Wishing you further success.”

"I wanted to speak with you after the performance and thank you for the ticket and the marvelous experience of "Abraham in Flames," but it looked like you had quite a few people to talk to. I thought the opera was absolutely GORGEOUS and wonderful and amazing. I was very moved by your poetry, which says such important things in such a beautiful, unusual way. The entire production was mesmerizing and the singers did a fantastic job. I was so caught up in it I was surprised when it ended! Congratulations - it's a brilliant work and I hope it has a life beyond Z Space, with many more performances.”

"I fell asleep to choral harmonies. So gorgeous. I loved it."

"Congratulations on an incredible show!! I saw the press as well, which is rave. It was beautiful and deep. I hope you all are happy with how it all turned out and glowing in the post performance aura of what you’ve created.”

"CONGRATULATIONS again for the amazing opera of Abraham in Flames. I can only imagine how much work goes into an opera like this…”

"We ALL loved the new OPERA. CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU on 7 years of hard work. Your book is just wonderful. Many of us have read it. We discussed the Opera in the car and all agreed that it was FLAWLESS......the 5 soloists stars were just Fantastic..so was..the music, the lighting,and the SNOW moment ! ! ! Very intricate work on behalf of the Chorus. They are STARS TOO. The music was not easy to learn but they made it sound so pleasing at all times. It is TIME TO REST a while........and Bask in the GLORY ! ! ! But what is NEXT for you? With lots of LOVE and Congratulations again……” — Janet Welter and CA Symphony ladies

"It’s a triumph all right. Girl’s voice woke me up in the middle of the night last night, out of a dream. Incredibly powerful. Like being the bell as it’s rung.” — Eric Evans

"What an amazing afternoon yesterday. I'm still processing what we all got to experience together. Thank you for having the courage and drive to see this project through. I have attended seen many of your projects...and I remember us chatting after Brooklyn how you needed to produce and be in charge from start to finish. Well look at what happens when you do that. Brava. Not only art. But a badly needed (but tastefully done) message. Thank you for sharing your gifts, your passion and desire to make this a better place to exist in.” — Daniel Nam

"Thank you so very much for making it possible for me to watch Abraham in Flames, which was at once beautiful and very moving. I loved every minute of it. I expect that other venues will want to put your show on. And I look forward to hearing about its forthcoming successes. Thank you, my friend. You are brilliant."

"What a memorable and mesmerizing experience! It was astonishing! The production was such an amazing feat of imagination: bravo bravo! What an incredible vision! And how beautifully you wove the words and voices! The music and soloists were also incredible: how wonderful that you had such top-quality people singing your work! And the chorus was sublime: the theater-in-the-round format really me feel immersed in the chorus and the music.” — Pireeni Sundaralingam

"Thanks so much, again, for extending the invitation to "Abraham in Flames." It’s absolutely beautiful! I hope you’re reveling in it, and look forward to seeing you some time soon — let’s make a date to have a coffee when you’ve put your feet back on the ground (with pluck and grit).”

“I cannot stop thinking about it.”

"What an evening! I’m sure the others who were there to see the opera were as delighted as I was with the performance. Thanks for creating the opera. I especially enjoyed the intimacy of the small group (as opposed to a large theater). Such creativity . Will you continue to produce more works of this kind? I hope so.

"Bravo again for yesterday!! It was so powerful and touching!"

"Wow!!! What an amazing review!! And well-deserved!!! I’m SO proud of you!”

"That was absolutely amazing!!”

"Congratulations again. I know this was an enormous undertaking and years of work and it really really paid off. Super powerful performance. Thrilling, creative, beautiful. Important subject matter, especially for today. Really happy for you and proud of your achievement!”

"That was truly incredible!”

"CONGRATS!!! That debut was DOPE. The lighting, the stage, the music...the whole performance reached an outstanding new level. Gosh, those girls have such amazing pitch. The melody and harmony were fantastic. And having the context from your book took it to a completely different level. I’m so glad I got to see it, and really impressed by the entire production. Wow. HECK YEAH." — Carlos Cabrera

"I absolutely loved your opera! I also loved following you from Fort Mason, the opera house, and to last week. You have worked so hard to bring this art piece into fruition. Congratulations girl!” —Deborah Denehy

"I LOVED it!! I was waiting for things to die down to reach out to you. One of our guests loved it so much that they bought your book on Amazon. You should be so proud!!!!” —Kari Lincks Coomans

"We absolutely loved every minute. It was very special for me- and I super love your besties. Enjoy the afterglow and congratulations on an amazing and illuminating experience. I’m on way to London for a couple of weeks and look forward to chilling when back. Abraham was on fire- absolutely wowed.” —Peggy Gyulai

"I was very taken by the production. As you may recall, I worked for SF Opera for a decade and saw lots of different productions, including some in smaller venues directed by Roy. He always seemed to do some controversial things, so part of my delight in this production is that nothing felt strange or uncomfortable to me! It was brilliant in concept start to finish. And a great example of how one can present opera on a smaller budget and make it powerful.

The intimacy of engaging the audience with the stage was borne of necessity, I'm sure, but it was a wonderful experience and a new perspective that is hard to do in most venues. I loved the production. The clever use of headlamps on wrists and dropping of confetti to create the snow effect was one of my favorites! The video screens enhanced the concept in the right way and the super titles were necessary, but also reinforced the action on the stage in a way that might have otherwise been lost. The costumes were terrific, especially the 'multi-use' of some, such as the tree. It felt like super smart design and a concept that takes full advantage of a budget with an effect that is powerful. Using the stage end to end as much as possible isn't easy to do, but it looked almost effortless. The girls were used in so many ways to dress or clear the stage. Again, super smart directing and design concepts throughout.

Of course, the cast was spectacular and I enjoyed the music as well as the message. As a singer, I could appreciate the hard work that went into learning those roles, especially for the girls chorus. Too often new operas don't register with me because the music is too abstract for my taste or the production is too edgy. This was a wonderful surprise to enjoy a new opera and new production at every turn.

Congratulations! I hope it will venture to other locales at some point in the future." — Stacy Cullison

"it was a beautiful experience to be at the space for your show. i felt that the beauty and artistry of the work in addition to knowing you, and having been witness of your struggles with affirming your calling in life in the most intimate context of the family space, blessed me with both a public and private experience that is rare even among artists. the artists who joined you in embodying and voicing your story and vision were amazing. i can still hear those girls! as another non-voluntary immigrant (is there another kind?) and someone who also had to make tough choices to follow a calling, i also felt that you articulated beautifully what we embody, for perhaps, all artists: art is a space of belonging like no other. it is a realm of its own, a home of its own, and if you are lucky enough to be granted a passport, you will be welcomed and find fellow citizens and a home anywhere in the world you can find yourself in or going to. it was brilliant to focus on childhood and youth as part of that symbolic realm. for, perhaps, creativity and imagination is the homeland of children and youth, a land that sadly, many leave behind on their own, or, as we know, forced by life circumstances and/or a non-supportive environment. so much conjured by and in that space… perhaps to ponder over a cup of coffee or a shot of single malt. above all, such gratitude for the all-seeing gaze of real friends. thank you for such beautiful work, amiga mía!” — Roberto Varea

“an elusive but arresting new chamber opera…” — Joshua Kosman of the SF Chronicle

"Vrebalov’s seductive and colorfully orchestrated score...with a sleek production and lighting design by Heather Carson and costumes by Christine Crook, the opera stirred interest even before it began.” — Steven Winn of SF Classical Voice’s in Abraham in Flames Burns Brightly at Z Space

“Written by a female composer and female librettist, a very rare occurrence in a world dominated by male composers/librettists...The biggest pièce de résistance of the opera, the use of a girls’ choir as the lead character. An amazing achievement for everybody involved, and truly a worthy addition to the opera world." — Michael Anthonio of Parterre in There Will be Bloom

Self-Portrait in Bloom

“...brilliant, transparent translations of Shamlou’s works...soar with poetic subtlety.”
— Asterix Journal

BELONGING:

“Utterly gorgeous. Here the personal becomes political and vice versa with haunting results. — LibraryThing

"It was my pleasure to meet you...Such a fantastic program for an audience of Iranians & Americans. I have talked about the program to all my friends in Sacramento and the Bay Area and I am very glad that 3 other of my relatives attended the event with me. They loved it...I congratulate you on your talent, creativity and reaching your dream of poetry.
— Haleh Motiey-Payandehjoo, Supervising Librarian, California State Library

"It was wonderful to meet you and to listen to all the interesting things you said and read! Thanks again for coming and putting on such a wonderful event, and I look forward to working with you in the future."
— Pam Grange, Books Inc.

"Thank you note for a great presentation! You have grown so much over the years."
— Mehdi Bozorgmeh, CUNY Graduate Center

"After reading her introduction and the first few sections of Belonging, I realized that Talebi had accomplished perhaps the greatest service that a translator of Iranian poetry for American audiences can provide: she made the Iranian poetic landscape feel familiar. Not only familiar, but modern, full of laughter, rich with wonder, completely joyful and terrible and worthy of revisiting multiple times."
— Peter Conners, Three Percent

ICARUS/RISE

"We were all amazed and shocked by your amazing performance and talent...! wish you much success...You have impressed us all, and I hope the new generations learns to follow in your footsteps."
— Bita Daryabari, Unique Zan Foundation

"Powerful performance, This is an artist: a spirit who breathes dragon fire into ancient arts in a totally original hybrid vision. Talebi is the best."
— Joe Quirk, Author

"OMG, this is insanely beautiful...I couldn't hold the tears back... Bravo!"
— Shamsi (Youtube comment on ICARUS/RISE footage)

"Excellent! Thank you from a british born persian trying to find her roots"
— (Youtube comment on ICARUS/RISEfootage)

"I just wanted to congratulate you on a unbelievable event. The production and effect of ICARUS/IRISE was simply stunning. This is a massive effort towards delivering the emotional power of these works and I think you did a fantastic job. I was simply stunned during the performances."
— Bruce Bahmani, B Cubed

"You really shocked and awed!"
— Ahsha Safai, Bay Area ICAURS/RISE audience

"I thought the whole festival...and in particular your performance and the Icarus presentation, was done masterfully, an invaluable endeavor, both in terms of content and execution. A very well-done job indeed!"
— Karim Nassiri Toussi, Bay Area audience

"My dear exceptional Niloufar, I can not begin to tell you how proud I was of you last night...everybody in the theatre was raving about you...your passion for poetry & your work was contagious...Keep up the good work because it is just the beginning...."
— Fariba Rezvani, LinKore

Persian Rite of Spring

"Oh my goodness, WE HAVE NO WORDS...WE HAVE NO WORDS..."
— Persian Rite of Spring audience

"This was the BEST program I've seen in the 36 years I've lived outside Iran, in the US."
— Bijan Pakzad (Designer), Persian Rite of Spring audience

"This is a new genre of 'CULTURAL TRANSLATION', educationally, professionally and artistically done."
— Persian Rite of Spring audience

"As an American married to an Iranian scholar, I've heard about Iranian culture in every possible way for 59 years now, but I've NEVER heard it like this. This was a highlight for me, an education and high art entertainment of the finest degree."
— Mrs. Benani, Persian Rite of Spring audience

"This program was MAGICAL, absolutely MAGICAL. Your audience is walking on clouds now."
— Persian Rite of Spring audience

"YOU MAKE US ALL PROUD TO BE IRANIAN."
— Maurice Mehrban

"You are simply an honor to our community. I admire all that you do and may you continue to cherish us with your presence and your art."
— Ramine Hajipour, Persian Rite of Spring audience

"This was WORLD CLASS art and should be seen everywhere."
— Persian Rite of Spring audience

"We felt like a contemporary figure emerged from the 'Cylinder of Cyrus' itself to bring us an ancient culture."
— Navid Hazeghi Ziai, Producer of 'Yar-e Dabestani'

"Thank you, Niloufar, for everything you gave us during your visit. You were superb and your performance was spell-binding for everyone who saw it..."
— RC Davis, Director, Neustadt International Festival of Literature and Culture

"Thank you for everything you gave us during your visit. You were superb and your performance was spellbinding!"
— RC Davis, Director of the Neustadt International Festival of Literature and Culture

“The oldest art form, storytelling, is on dazzling display in Niloufar Talebi’s electrifying and multidisciplinary wisdom. Niloufar masterfully captures the essence of ancient rituals and myths while infusing them with a thoroughly modern sensibility. The result, The Persian Rite of Spring, is a theatrical performance for all ages that will awaken even the most slumbering soul into a new beginning!”
— Maryna Hrushetska, Director of Craft and Folk Art Museum

"This work is culturally-based, bold, cross-generational, cross-cultural, educational and entertaining all at the same time and absolutely BRILLIANT."
— Maryna Hrushetska, Director of Craft and Folk Art Museum

"I found the marriage of visual, musical and poetic imagery in Niloufar Talebi's work, to be touching, effective and an ideal way to discover and appreciate contemporary Iranian poetry."
— Michael Tilson Thomas, Music Director, San Francisco Symphony

"There are a couple of women in this country, maybe more than a couple, who do what i think is about the bravest thing you can do, is to organize, culturally, the work of a native land, from which they come...Nilou is one of those, Marguerite Laurent, a Haitian poet, who's also a lawyer in Connecticut, is another...what they are doing is linking up the diasporic dimension, with, implicitly, the struggle to transform not merely the society from which they came -- usually in great distress -- but to help change the society that they also live in...so these are really brave activists, cultural workers of the highest order, and I am pleased very much to be here..."
— Jack Hirschman - Distinguished American poet; SF Poet Laureate

“A cultural worker of the highest order, Niloufar does the bravest work, transforming not only the society from which she comes, but help change the society in which she lives.”
— Jack Hirschman, Emeritus Poet Laureate of San Francisco

"Dear Niloufar, you wondered why your audience were so quiet. Let me tell you: the reason was AMAZEMENT! They were so impressed by your eloquence, mannerism, delivery and emotional rendering of the poetry that they preferred to listen to you in silence. I had telephone messages one after another to express what they felt...So, know that you have left a group of people here totally captured by your program. It was wonderful to see you and I thank you for coming...Following my previous email, my students absolutely loved your English rendering of the poems...
— Fereshteh Amanat-Kowsar, Yale University

"You wondered why your audience was so quiet. Let me tell you: the reason was amazement. You left them totally captivated."
— Fereshteh Amanat-Kowsar, Yale University

"...Your ICARUS/RISE evening has remained a glowing memory...Amazing performance..."
— Thomas Hampson, Baritone

"An accomplished translator, Niloufar Talebi is presenting our rich Iranian tradition to the world."
— Shahrnush Parsipur, Distinguished Iranian writer

"If it wasn't for meeting you and you opening my eyes, I would not be at all able to 'hear' poetry. My aunt, uncle, and grandfather who have all passed on, thank you for bringing me back into the fold. Ghorbanat."
— Zahra Dowlatabadi, Filmmaker

"Niloufar - thank you so much for your presentation/performance this evening...and for your incredible professionalism and elegance...You've given us much to think about, and in talking with a few of the students after you left, you've opened their perceptual doors up as well. To be able to look at Iranian art and culture in this accessible way is an enormous gift and certainly one that is deeply and profoundly appreciated. Thank you for sharing your passion and ideas with so many."
— Claudia Funk - Lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

"Your presentation and performance opened our perceptual doors and gave us so much to think about. Thank you for your incredible professionalism and elegance."
— Claudia Funk - Lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

"I was delighted to hear and SEE your presentation, and most especially to acquire your anthology, BELONGING."
— Marilyn Hacker, Distinguished poet and translator

"Thanks so much for such a wonderful evening--it was a great event."
— Dr. Eric Falci, UC Berkeley Department of English

"It was an absolute pleasure to see your program. I already heard praise from students. You're a natural up there."
— Ravi Shankar, Poet-in-Residence at Connecticut State University

"Coming in contact with your works has been wonderful, and meeting you last night was an absolute delight! I wish you and BELONGING a wonderful journey, because after all BELONGING isn't just about poetry, it is about our stories today and telling them for the sake of our "shadows" as Hedayat says. I thank you for your amazing presentation last night. And I hope to have you back with us soon...l really liked your power point presentation on Naghali..."
— Aria Fani, University of California, San Diego

Fire Angels

“Ms. Talebi endowed these philosophical concepts with human characteristics ... [in] elegant texts woven into four scenes featuring solo live voice.”
— The New York Times





Press EXTRAS

Broadway world: Layla Means Night — Sep. 16, 2013
Layla Means Night: Rosanna Gamson seduces audiences in San Francisco — Nov 4, 2013
layla means night and the elephant in the room — November 3, 2013
'Layla Means Night,' review: not thought through — Allan Ulrich — November 1, 2013
SF Weekly review King Kills His Brides Over and Over again, October 31, 2013
Nob Hill Gazzett write up for Layla, October 31, 2013
High-art Haunted House: Layla Means Night , October 20, 2013
KALW Revolutions per minute Sarah Cahill interview with Vrebalov, Rapier, McMane, May 5, 2019
KALW Revolutions per minute Sarah Cahill interview with Vrebalov, Rapier, McMane, October 1, 2017 (digitized)