Nothing…

Talking Mowlavi with Coleman Barks Wednesday, 20 August, 2008

Press TV – Talking Mowlavi with Coleman Barks.

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:57:47 GMT
By Tamara Ebrahimpour, Press TV, Tehran

American poet, Coleman Barks

American poet, Coleman Barks was born in 1937 in Tennessee. He attended North Carolina and California universities, and taught poetry and creative writing at the University of Georgia for thirty years.

Barks is known as a translator of works by the mystic Persian poet, Mowlavi and has been a student of Sufism since 1977. He received an honorary doctorate from Tehran University in 2006.

The Hand of Poetry, Five Mystic Poets of Persia (1993), The Essential Rumi (1995) and The Book of Love (2003) are among his translations of Persian poetry.

The following is Press TV’s exclusive interview with the renowned American poet:

Press TV: You have written a letter to President George W. Bush about the US-led invasion of Iraq. What made you write such a letter? Can you tell us more about its contents?

Barks: In March 2003, I wrote a letter/poem to President Bush proposing a kind of whimsical alternative to war. I read the poem in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, on March 15th, three days before the US tank battalions crossed over into Iraq. (more…)