Sohrab Sepehri

Well-versed in Buddhism, mysticism, and Western traditions, he blended the Eastern concepts with Western techniques, thereby creating a kind of poetry unsurpassed in the history of Persian literature. He had his own style of writing in his poems that he used short sentences rather than longer ones which is used in Persian poetry for centuries. To him, new forms were new means to express his thoughts and feelings. In one of his works called 'Footsteps of Water' or ‘The Water’s Footfall’ Sepehri introduces himself, his family, and his way of thinking in a poetic form. This poem which is written like a biography has two aspects: the inner and outer. The Inner aspect of this poem is about God's recognition through the beauty of nature. Sepehri beautifully explains that he doesn't blindly do his religious duties. In most of his poems, Sepehri introduces a new form of literature by using romanticism and symbolism. The beauty of his poems is seen through his inspiration of nature and the use of tender and simple language. Abdolali Dastgheib, acclaimed literary critic writer, believes that Sepehri has reached great levels in poetic language following the publication of his later books such as ‘The Water’s Footfall’, ‘Traveler’ and ‘The Green Volume’. In the last one, "The Green Volume" there's a famous poem called "Beyond the Seas". As Sepehri is famous in writing about nature and its elements in a very simple but meaningful way. There are many examples of personifications, or symbols in his poetry.[6] In his poem "Let's not Spoil the Water", he talks about water, the necessary and basic element of life which people must keep clean. He has used a special symbolism in these poems that makes the objects talk to the reader, rather than explaining those objects.[7] Sepehri's poetry is full of humanity and concern for human values. He also achieved a new technique in painting which is called Texture and was unknown for the other painters for a long time. He used to create most of his pieces of art in isolated places like "Ghariyeh Chenar" and desserts of Kashan. His poetry has been translated into many languages including English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Swedish, Arabic, Turkish and Russian. An English translation of his selected poems by Ali Salami was published in 2003.

• Born in 1928 – Kashan – Iran
• He hosted a painting exhibition - Tehran 1944
• He published his first poetry book (The Death of Color) that followed by a few other books in the same year - 1951
• He graduated from the fine arts university with Bachelor of Arts degree in painting from Honar-haye Ziba University,[8] Tehran – 1953
• He translated some Japanese poetry into Persian and published them in a literary magazine called Sokhan – 1955
• He traveled to Ghazvin and attended the Paris Fine Arts School in lithography – 1957
• He traveled to Tokyo to further his studies in lithography and wood carving – 1960
• He published three books in poetry – 1960
• On the way back to Iran from Japan, he visited India and became familiar with the ideology of Buddhism – 1961
• He traveled to India again and visited several cities and provinces – 1964
• He traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan 1964
• He traveled to Europe and visited several countries such as Germany, England, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy and Austria – 1966
• He published some long poems after he returned to Iran – 1966
• He hosted a painting exhibition in Tehran 1967
• He published another book in poetry 1967
• He traveled to Greece and Egypt – 1974
• He published his final book called 'Hasht Ketab' (Eight Books), which was the collection of almost all of his published poems in one volume – 1976
• He got Leukemia and traveled to England for treatment – 1978
• Unfortunately, his attempt to defeat cancer brought him no result. He returned to Iran and died in Pars Hospital in Tehran on Monday April 21, 1980. Buried in Mashhad Ardehal, Kashan Province, Iran.