Poetry for All Podcast Event with Haleh Liza Gafori

Please join us for a Poetry for All Live Podcast with acclaimed translator, educator, and performance artist Haleh Liza Gafori. Please join us for a Poetry for All Live Podcast with vocalist, poet, and educator, Haleh Liza Gafori as she presents “Rumi For Our Times”, a selection of poems by the 13th century mystic Rumi; revealing how urgently and tenderly the beloved sage speaks to us in these challenging times. No stranger to political turmoil and the ravages of the imperious ego, calling listeners toward an ethic of love, care and reverence. Alive with dazzling images, leaping progressions of thought, and astonishing rhythm and wordplay, Rumi’s poems are not only aesthetic masterpieces but are also spiritual and philosophical works, meant to illuminate and liberate, pointing us toward more harmonious ways of being. Event Schedule, September 24, 2026: 1:00 pm | Poetry For All Live Podcast co-hosted by Abram Van Engen and Joanne Diaz Hurst Lounge (located in Duncker Hall) Please note that this event will be recorded live. To minimize disruptions during the recording, a late seating policy will be in effect. Attendees who arrive after the event begins may be asked to wait until an appropriate break in the program before being seated. Check-In and Doors Open: Doors to Hurst Lounge (located in Duncker Hall) will open at 12:30 pm. We strongly encourage you to arrive early to allow time for parking and ticket checks at the door before reording begins. Ticketing: Although this is a free event and open to all, seats are limited and tickets will be required to attend the Poetry for All live podcast event. Hurst Lounge accommodates general admission seating and available on a first-come, first-served basis; your ticket does not designate a specific seat. Each attendee will need their own ticket in their name. If you have questions about tickets, please contact us at [email protected] or (314) 935-9345. Waitlist: When we have reached capacity for our venue, you will be able to join the waitlist. If more tickets become available, you will be informed via email. You will have to respond to those instructions within 24 hours to claim the tickets. Security: All attendees should be prepared for security measures, which may include bag checks. We encourage guests to leave large bags at home. More Information: Please see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) below. About the Speaker and Hosts: Haleh Liza Gafori is a New York City-born translator, performance artist, writer and educator of Iranian descent. Her two volumes of translations of poetry by the 13th century sage Rumi, entitled Gold (2022) and Water (2025), were published by New York Review Books/NYRB Classics. Gafori was a 2026 and 2024 MacDowell fellow, and a 2023 recipient of the New York State Council on the Arts grant. She created a musical and cross-media performance based on the book and has presented her work, via performance and lectures and workshops, at institutions such as Lincoln Center, Stanford University, the Academy of American Poets, and Sarah Lawrence College. Her work has been published by Columbia University Press, Harvard Review, World Literature Today, Lit Hub, Paris Review, and others. She teaches at the MFA writing program at St. Joseph’s University, and her books of translations Gold and Water have been incorporated in the curricula of universities across the country. Abram Van Engen is the Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis. He brings several teaching awards to his work on the Poetry for All podcast. Abram’s scholarly work, meanwhile, takes him to early America with books and articles on Puritanism and early New England, such as City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism (winner of the Pelikan Prize and the Peter Gomes Memorial Book Award). From early American subjects, Abram’s teaching, speaking, and writing expand outward to multiple audiences with numerous publications in journals and magazines on poetry, religion, and literature. Such writings have led to his co-edited book with Mary Eyring, Anne Bradstreet Now: Modern Poets Respond and Word Made Fresh: An Invitation to Poetry for the Church, an illuminating and encouraging guide for anyone interested (and intimidated) by poetry. Joanne Diaz is the Isaac Fund Endowed Professor of English at Illinois Wesleyan University and the winner of multiple teaching awards. She is author of three books of poetry, Electric Dress (Barrow Street 2026), My Favorite Tyrants (winner of the 2013 Brittingham Prize in Poetry), and The Lessons (winner of the 2009 Gerald Cable Book Award), and with Ian Morris, Joanne is the co-editor of The Little Magazine in Contemporary America. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, and her recent poems have been published in American Poetry Review, Bennington Review, Colorado Review, New England Review, and Poetry.