New Books by Sholeh Wolpé
Attar : The Invisible Sun
“Sholeh Wolpé’s stunning new translation renders Attar’s engaging, singular voice with wit and flourish.” — Literary Hub
“Wolpe is Iranian-born herself and brings a real sensitivity to these translations and the transmittal of this Sufi wisdom.” –Spiritual&Practice
“Voz de mujer, voz poderosa y rebelde, no resignada, es la de la poeta, y mujer que construye su pensamiento contra las barreras que se le imponen, sea en las relaciones sociales o en el amor, asunto también del poemario, pero no todo se puede abordar en una reseña.” –Diario de Leon
por Sholeh Wolpé. (traducción: Corina Oproae)
New bilingual edition of Abacus of Loss: a memoir in verse
Visor Libros, Spain
Ábaco de la Pérdida - Memorias en verso
“Sholeh Wolpé’s Abacus of Loss is a manual for living. How to stay permeable to wonder and joy in a world that so aggressively conspires against them? In a world that can be so corrosive to grace? In one poem Wolpé writes, ‘Our passports lie on the yellow Formica table / side by side, two countries at war.’ In another, ‘God is just a vagabond / peddling bombs and swords.’ There is a remarkable braid here of a woman’s journey through a world run by men drunk on their own power, through a cosmos governed by a God apparently hidden by his. Abacus of Loss is a remarkable achievement, an unforgettable text.”
—Kaveh Akbar
Sholeh Wolpé is a poet, writer, and librettist. She was born in Iran, writes in English, translates from Persian and lives in Los Angeles and Barcelona. She is the Writer-In-Residence at the University of California, Irvine.
Her most recent work include , The Invisible Sun – Attar (Harper Collins, long-listed for a PEN award), Abacus of Loss: A Memoir in Verse (University of Arkansas Press), Abaco de Perdida (Visor Libros, España ), Song of Exile for choir and Nava Avaz, a full length opera for 6 composers (premiere 2027). Her translations of Iranian poetry, in particular 12th century Sufi mystic poet Attar, and 20th century Iranian rebel poet Forugh Farrokhzad have garnered awards and established Wolpé a as a celebrated re-creator of Persian poetry into English.
She is the recipient of Opera America Discovery Award as well as a PEN America Poetry in Translation Long List, PEN/Heim, Midwest Book Award, and the Lois Roth Translation Prize.
Sholeh Wolpé, photo by Sophie Kandaouroff
Sholeh Wolpé was the subject of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Spotlight.
