It is in the Seven Valleys of Love, a bilingual anthology of women poets from the Middle Ages Persia to present day Iran that we find socio-politics come together with such mysticism and storytelling, as well as controversial poetry, in the form of visionary and strong feminine voices. Few other anthologies have ever attempted such a delicate challenge both in research and translation as this one. Shahrnush Parsipur
On the page, these poems in their original Persian are lovely and mysterious; through the eye, they speak to the heart. In translation, these poems, both classic and contemporary, speak not only to our hearts but also to our souls, revealing their poets' deepest desires: for peace, for love, for life. In her bilingual anthology, Sheema Kalbasi has brought these women into my home; welcoming them, I am moved and informed. Cortney Davis
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When Sheema touches her pen to paper, beauty miraculously appears. Seven Valleys of Love is a gentle loving wind that is released to the earth.
Sheema Kalbasi's superb and lasting translations of a wide range of poetesses from the Middle Ages to present-day Iran attest to her deep understanding of the tradition to which Kalbasi as a poet belongs. This continuous but timeless feminine experience, revealed by poetry, makes Seven Valleys of Love a unique, modern, and absorbing collection. Dr. Peyman Vahabzadeh |
This exciting new anthology concerns what -- at least for today's mainstream Western readers -- may constitute the book's most noticeable characteristic: its representation of work by poets from Iran, that terminally demonized/dehumanized 'axis of Evil' nation that has seemingly been at war with the West since the Battle of Marathon between ancient Greeks and Persians in 490 BCE. It is my belief that by exposing the journey of Iran's women poets through 'Seven Valleys of Love' Ms Kalbasi has depicted and emphasized the humanity and dignity of one of world's most misunderstood peoples, and has made a significant contribution to facilitating a cross-cultural dialogue in place of a nefarious 'Clash of Civilizations' Dr. Ali Alizadeh
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