Wednesday, May 17th, 2023, 4:30 - 6 pm
Join the Poetry Society of New Hampshire for an afternoon of verse! Their headlining poet this month is Ala Khaki. An open mic follows his reading.
Ala Khaki, is an Iranian-American poet and a former student activist in Iran during the Iranian Revolution. He is the author of four poetry collections, two in English, Remembrances, A Poetic Memoir of Life in A Political Prison in Iran and Return; and two in Farsi, Calling the Dawn and From Here to Sunrise.
Ala Khaki was imprisoned twice, in 1975 and again in 1976-1977, the second time as a result of being betrayed by a friend as the author of a series of resistance poetry being distributed underground. He fled to United States in 1978 after a tip from a major in the Shah’s Air Force, a cousin of his father, that he had been put on the death squad list by SAVAK, the dreaded Secret Police. Subsequently, all copies of his first book of poetry, From Here to Sunrise, were confiscated from the publisher and destroyed in 1978.
Ala Khaki’s poems have appeared in Iranian and American literary journals and anthologies, including The Book Review, Par (Feather), Thought and Imagination, Worcester Review, The Poets’ Touchstone, the 2010 Poets’ Guide to New Hampshire, Poet Showcase: An Anthology of New Hampshire Poets, and COVID Spring. In 1981, he was the subject of a documentary film titled “Resident Exile” by the celebrated documentary filmmaker and director Ross McElwee.
Remembrances, …, is a poetic window into life inside Iran’s notorious Evin prison, by Ala Khaki, an Iranian-American poet. He was betrayed by a friend for being the author of some of the resistance poetry that used to be distributed underground in universities in Iran.
Return is a selection of poems from 1978 to 2005 by Ala Khaki, an Iranian poet and writer, now living in New England.