literature at a glance in tirgan festival
NOTE: ALL PROGRAMS ARE SUBJECTED TO CHANGE. FINAL EVENT PLANNER WILL BE PUBLISHED ON JULY 10, 2008
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arranged in alphabetical order
Amir-Shahy, Mahshid
www.amirshahi.org
Amirshahy is the author of more than ten novels and collection of short stories. During more than four decades of her writing career, she has developed a unique style that is distinguished by its clarity, satire, and masterful dialogues. Her penetrating gaze into the backwardness of certain social practices does not prevent her from sympathizing with individuals that are entangled one way or the other in the complex web of their times and conditions. Her firm belief that, “In most tragic, gruesome, and despondent situations, one can find a comical streak that when added to the picture, can put the tragedy into relief” has certainly been essential in enabling her to recount stories and memories from recent tumultuous decades of Iranian history. Mahshid Amirshay will carry out two sessions of book readings from her recent works in “Once Upon a Time” and will attend another session to have a dialogue with the audience about her literary career.
Select collection of Mahshid Amirshahi's works including the new edition of
Mother's and Daughers: Abbas Khan's Wedding is exclusively available
at Pegah Bookstore in North York
Balevi, Ariel
Ariel is a storyteller for general audiences. He tells stories from the Eastern tradition, with an emphasis on the folklore and literature of Iran and Turkey. His repertoire includes stories from the Shahnameh, the Haft Paykar and the Thousand and One Nights. He has performed in Washington D.C., Ottawa and various venues in the Toronto area such as the Toronto Public Library. He also has performed at a number of local festivals such as Word on the Street and the Toronto International Festival of Storytelling.
Ariel will be telling 'Zal and Rudabeh', one of the great love stories of the Shahnameh, which is also a story of war, generational conflict and redemption. It is the story of the parents of Rustam and as such provides a parrallel narrative to the celebrated 'Sohrab and Rustam' which will also be performed at this festival.Ariel's storytelling event will feature one of Master Alijanpour's paintings, specifically done for this performance, and live music of Pirouz Yousefian.
| >> Ariel Balevi Collaborators |
Vali, Jafar
With over half a century of contributions to writing, directing, and performing in theatre and film, Jafar Vali is recognized as one of Iran’s top ten artists in dramatic arts. Vali has worked with great literary figures, directors, and artists such as Gholamhosein Saedi, Ali Hatami, Dariush Mehrjui, Ali Nasirian, and Parviz Fanizadeh to establish a great repertoire of over ten films and over a hundred plays with many awards in various festivals. Vali’s long career in theatre had a significant impact on introducing classical masterpieces of theater to the general public in Iran. He was selected as the best actor in 2008 in Iran. Jafar Vali’s performance in “Once Upon a Time” is inspired by traditional “Naghali” and recounts the famous story of “Rostam and Sohrab.
Dr. Yavari, Houra
Dr. Houra Yavari is a Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University and the Consulting Editor on Modern Persian Fiction to the Encyclopaedia Iranica. She has published many scholarly articles and books such as “Psychoanalysis and Literature in Iran: Two Texts, Two Selves, Two Worlds” and “Living in the Mirror: A Literary Perspective”.
Dr. Yavari will talk about the “Myth of Arash the Archer”. A heroic figure who sacrificed his life for the glory of his land, Arash has occupied a pivotal place in Persian culture and literature. To settle a border dispute between Iran and its perennial enemy Turan, the Iranians had to shoot an arrow whose landing location would mark the border between the two countries. On a bright morning of Tirgan, Arash climbs Mount Damavand, strains his bow as never before, shoots the arrow, and having spent all his strength in this single mighty exertion, immediately collapses and dies. The arrow flies the entire day and at noon on the following day lands in the trunk of a walnut tree on the far bank of the Oxus River in Central Asia.
By situating the tale in the old tradition of Persian epic and following its trajectory in literature and lore as a summer festival, this talk will further discuss the modern retellings of the myth, and its reverberations in the period’s literary imagination.
