Hafez Day

Hafez is the only poet who gets their own holiday! So join a diverse slate of fine San Diego poets paying homage and celebrating the 4^th annual Hafez Day in San Diego while using verse as an avenue for peace and international connection. Space is limited so reserve your seat here.

Growing up in Shiraz, Hafez’s hometown, I recited his poetry before I could read or write. By the time I was 13, I had memorized many of his ghazals which I would present at poetry gatherings. Sometime after I arrived in the U.S. and learned English, I began translating Rumi’s poetry. Around the same time, I realized Hafez is untranslatable. I attended a graduate class in Hafez poetry at the University of Texas at Austin and still didn’t find that the translations captured the essence of the original verses. Then Hafiz’s Little Book of Life came across my desk ⬇️