Simin Behbahani

Simin Beh'bahāniSimin (سیمین) is the Persian word for Silvery, Lustrous or Fair, and Behbahani (بهبهانی), From Behbahan, refers to the people of Behbahan, a city in the Khuzestan Province of Iran. () (June 20, 1927 - August 19, 2014) was an Iranian writer and poet. She was Iran's national poet and an icon to Iranian literature. She was called the lioness of Iran.Fatemeh Keshavarz, Banishing the Ghosts of Iran, The Chronicle Review of Higher Education, Vol. 53, No. 45, p. B6 (13 July 2007).   She was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and "received many literary awards around the world."Tehran Halts Travel By Poet Called 'Lioness Of Iran' by Mike Shuster, NPR, 17 March 2010

Behbahani was hospitalized in Tehran on 6 August 2014. She was in a state of coma until her death thirteen days later on 19 August 2014, aged 87.

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 Ismail Salami
A Cup of Sin, Selected poems, translated by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa

Awards
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

References

Other websites

Biography of Simin Behbahani
An International Symposium on The Life and Poetry of Simin Behbahani 

Category:1927 births
Category:2014 deaths
Category:Iranian poets
Category:Writers from Tehran