Water - Poems by Rumi with Haleh Liza Gafori and Maya C. Popa

Acclaimed poet Haleh Liza Gafori returns to discuss her latest translations of Rumi's lyric poetry in Water with prize-winning poet Maya C. Popa.

This event will take place in person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on the 7th Floor.

Water expands on Gold, Haleh Liza Gafori's inspired and widely praised translation of the lyric poetry of the Persian mystic Rumi. As in Gold, Gafori renders with fluid grace and moving immediacy these indisputable masterworks of world literature, drawing on the deep well of Rumi’s work to bring out the worldly wit and wisdom that accompany his otherworldly summons. Behold the divine within and without, he tells us. Question the gnawing hunger for material possessions, fame, and fortune, and the fear of emptiness that drives it. Muster the soul, and experience a more compassionate and liberated state of mind. An eco-poet before his time, Rumi celebrates the immensity and wonder of the natural world while warning us of the havoc that greed and the pursuit of power wreak upon us and our world. His flights of dazzling imagery open up heart-stopping glimpses of the divine, challenging readers to wake from oblivion, and above all, to surrender to the transformative power of Love. Gafori is an acclaimed vocalist and musician as well as a gifted linguist and poet, and in her translations Rumi's poetry sings and beckons as nowhere else. Hers is the work, as the poet Marilyn Hacker has said, "of someone who is at once an acute and enamored reader of the original Farsi text, a dedicated miner of context and backstory, and, best of all, a marvelous poet in English.”

To join the event in person | Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Haleh Liza Gafori is a NY-born performance artist, translator, vocalist, poet, and musician of Iranian descent. Her acclaimed book of translations, Gold: Poems by Rumi was published by New York Review Books in 2022, and her second volume Water will be released on April 22, 2025, also by NYRB Classics. A 2024 MacDowell fellow, and recipient of a 2023 NYSCA grant, Gafori has created a musical and cross-media performance based on her translations and has presented her work via performances, lectures, and workshops, at institutions such as Lincoln Center, Stanford University, Le Poisson Rouge, the Academy of American Poets, Sarah Lawrence College, and Bradford Literary Fest. Gold has been incorporated in the curricula of universities across the country.

Dr. Maya C. Popa is most recently the author of Wound is the Origin of Wonder (W.W. Norton 2022; Picador 2023) named one of the Guardian’s Best Books of Poetry and a finalist for the Levis Reading Prize. American Faith (Sarabande 2019) was runner-up in the Kathryn A. Morton Prize judged by Ocean Vuong and was awarded the North American Book Prize in 2020. She is previously the author of three chapbooks published in the US and the UK. Popa is the Poetry Reviews Editor of Publishers Weekly and teaches poetry at NYU. She holds a PhD on the role of wonder in poetry from Goldsmiths, University of London and is at work on a book on literary wonder. Her newsletter, Poetry Today, is one of Substack's best-selling literature publications. She works closely with established and emerging writers through Conscious Writers Collective, her online writing platform and community.

GET THE BOOK

• Borrow: NYPL Catalog


• E-Book app: SimplyE, available on iOS and Android


• This event will also include signing and sales of the book by our Library Shop.

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ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

In-Person

• Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.


• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.


• This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

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Please submit all press inquiries to Connor Goodwin at least 48 hours before the event: email connorgoodwin@nypl.org.
 

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All programs are subject to change or cancellation. All programs are subject to recording and photography.

The 7 Stories Up Series at SNFL is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).