Self-portrait in BloomSelf-portrait in Bloom

In the aftermath of World War II, "a new dynamism" was taking shape in Persian poetry. Award-winning translator Niloufar Talebi explains how Iranian poets were increasingly instrumental in "freeing Persian poetry from the state of decline and stagnation." Into this backdrop emerges the poet Ahmad Shamlou in this part-memoir, part-biography, and part-history of literature in Iran. "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. Released in the 40th anniversary year of the Iranian revolution, it 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.--Publisher's description