Alireza Abiz (Iran/UK) is an Iranian poet, literary critic and translator based in London. He studied English Literature in Mashhad and Tehran universities and received his PhD in Creative Writing –Poetry from Newcastle University, UK. Abiz has written extensively on Persian contemporary literature and culture. His scholarly book ‘Censorship of Literature in Post-Revolutionary Iran: Politics and Culture since 1979’ is forthcoming by Bloomsbury. He has so far published five collections of poetry in Persian; ‘Stop! We must get off’, ‘Spaghetti with Mexican sauce’, ‘I can hear a tree from my desk’ “13/1 Koohsangi Street” and ‘Black Line- London Underground’. The latest collection published in 2017 was awarded the most prestigious independent poetry award in Iran, the Shamlou Award.  Abiz is also an award-winning translator and has translated some leading English language poets including Basil Bunting, Derek Walcott, Jack Kerouac and C.K. Williams into Persian. He is a board member in Poetry Translation Centre and the chief judge in Sarah Maguire Poetry in Translation Prize.

Translated from Persian to English by the poet and W. N. Herbert.

W.N. Herbert (also known as Bill Herbert) is a poet and academic and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature who writes both in English and Scottish. He is the author of 8 poetry collections and is currently professor of poetry and creative writing at Newcastle University, UK.