Ahmad Shamlou Translations
Ahmad Shamlou
Nobel-Prize nominated poet, Ahmad Shamlou (December 12, 1925 – July 23, 2000), is one of the most influential cultural figures of Iran. A writer, translator, encyclopedist, and critic, he synthesized international aesthetic ideas with Iranian traditions and practices to foment a modernist revolution in Iranian poetics and help cement its transition from metrical poetry to free verse in subject and form.
These award-winning English translations of Ahmad Shamlou’s poetry — hailed as “superb,” “marvelous,” and “expert” — are published in Elegies of the Earth: Selected Poems by Ahmad Shamlou (World Poetry Books, 2025). Earlier versions were published in Self-Portrait in Bloom (l’Aleph, 2019), Niloufar Talebi’s memoir that includes a literary portrait of Shamlou with early translations of poems, selected letters, quotes, and other material.
Ahmad Shamlou went by the pen names A. Bamdad, Alef Bamdad, or Bamdad الف بامداد. His name is also spelled as Shamloo, Shamlu, and Shamlū.
احمد شاملو (۲۱ آذر ۱۳۰۴–۲ مرداد ۱۳۷۹) متخلص به الف. بامداد، شاعر، فیلمساز، روزنامهنگار، پژوهشگر، مترجم، و فرهنگنویس بود
Niloufar Talebi is awarded a 2024 National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship for her translations of Ahmad Shamlou’s poetry.
Ahmad Shamlou has served as inspiration for several of Niloufar’s projects, including a TEDx Talk, an opera (Abraham in Flames), a poetry-film (Funeral Address), and two books, Elegies of the Earth: Selected Poems by Ahmad Shamlou (World Poetry, 2025), and Self-Portrait in Bloom (l’Aleph, 2019) a hybrid memoir and literary portrait of Shamlou.
Ahmad Shamlou English Translations and recitations
Elegies of the Earth: Selected Poems by Ahmad Shamlou
Edited and Translated from Persian by Niloufar Talebi
A sweeping centennial edition of Iran’s iconic twentieth-century poet of liberty, whose work shaped modern Persian poetry.
Known for his political engagement and deep humanism, and his pivotal role in Persian poetry’s modernist turn toward free verse, Ahmad Shamlou (1925–2000) crafted poems that carried both lyrical intimacy and cultural force. A central, defiant voice in Iran’s modern literary history, Shamlou championed the power of poetry as an instrument of liberation. His work, long suppressed in his homeland, remains urgent for readers everywhere confronting censorship, exile, and erasure. This bilingual edition honors Shamlou’s centennial with the most expansive selection of his poetry to date in English, encompassing his wide thematic range: from fierce protest to intimate love, mythic storytelling to existential reflection. Niloufar Talebi’s vibrant translations and deeply researched commentary shine new light on Shamlou’s legacy and his relevance today.
(World Poetry Books, Nov. 2025)
“Shamlou is a master of lucidity, insight, and image. What a gift at last to have these lucid, graceful, and formally confident translations by Niloufar Talebi.” —Matthew Zapruder
“Niloufar Talebi has successfully undertaken the nearly impossible task of translating Ahmad Shamlou’s poetry, opening his words to a generation of English-language readers. Shamlou’s voice, at once elevated and vernacular, classical and modern, is notoriously difficult to render into English. Yet Talebi’s years of deep engagement with Shamlou’s poetry breathe ‘fresh air’ into the poems of this iconoclastic, masculine author. Her thoughtful selection is further enhanced by judicious notes and references that deepen the reader’s understanding. What better way to mark the centennial of this towering Iranian poet than with these lovingly crafted, vivid translations.”
—Kaveh Bassiri
“After decades of work, Shamlou reached such an undeniable stature that neither praise nor criticism could alter his place in history. The greatest tribute I can offer this giant is not commentary, but simply to recite one of his poems.” —Abbas Kiarostami
Self-Portrait in Bloom
A hybrid memoir by Niloufar Talebi
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.
(l’Aleph, March 2019)
“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 hybrid wonder.”
—The Rumpus
"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
Watch a short poetry-film based on Shamlou’s poem, “Funeral Address”
created by Niloufar Talebi with Bobak Salehi
Watch Niloufar Talebi’s TEDx Berkeley talk about her projects that are inspired by Ahmad Shamlou, including hybrid memoir Self-Portrait in Bloom and opera, Abraham in Flames.