Mehdi Mousavi: Poetry, Translation and Conversation

Sic Publishing are proud to present Iranian poet Mehdi Mousavi for a special evening of poetry, translation, and conversation. A leading figure in Iran’s postmodern ghazal movement, Mousavi was arrested in Iran in 2013 alongside fellow poet Fatemeh Ekhtesari. He was subsequently sentenced to nine years in prison and 99 lashes, before escaping Iran in December 2015. He now lives in Lillehammer, Norway, where he arrived through the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN). This will be his first UK appearance. The evening will feature a reading by Mehdi Mousavi, followed by an in-conversation with poet Samuel Tongue and poet and translator Fatemeh Ekhtesari on repression, translation, and writing poetry under exile, including the extraordinary circumstances that have shaped Mousavi’s work. Published by Sic Publishing, The Last Kiss is a dual-language collection of Mousavi’s work and will be available to buy from the publisher at the event. Free but ticketed.