Reza Baraheni (; 13 December 1935 – 25 March 2022) was an Iranian novelist, poet, critic, and political activist. Baraheni was born in Tabriz, Iran, in 1935. After studying there and in Turkey, he obtained a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Istanbul, and in 1963 was appointed Professor of English at Teheran University. Baraheni lived in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, where he used to teach at the Centre for Comparative Literature at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. He was the author of more than fifty books of poetry, fiction, literary theory, and criticism, written in Persian and English. His works have been translated into a dozen of languages. His book, ''Crowned Cannibals'', is accused by a few of containing some fabrications. Moreover, he translated into Persian works by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, Kundera, Mandelstam, Andrić, and Fanon. Winner of the Scholars-at-Risk-Program Award of the University of Toronto and

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, Baraheni taught at the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

, Iran, the

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in Bloomington, Indiana, the

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, and

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. He was also a Fellow of St. Antony's College,

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, Britain, Fellow of the

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, Iowa City, and Fellow of Winters College,

. He was president of

PEN Canada PEN Canada is one of the 148 centres of PEN International. Founded in 1926, it has a membership of over 1,000 writers and supporters who campaign on behalf of writers around the world who are persecuted, imprisoned and exiled for exercising their r ...

. He died on 24 March 2022 in Toronto, Canada, and was buried on 9 April 2022 at Elgin Mills Cemetery, Canada.

Bibliography

English

*'' God's Shadow: Prison Poems'' (Indiana University Press, Bloomington - 1976) *'' The Crowned Cannibals: Writings on Repression in Iran'' (Random House, Vintage, New York - 1977, introduction by E. L. Doctorow) *'' Accosting the Butterflies: Selected Persian and English Poetry'' ‘Khatab be Parvaneh ha’ (Butterfly Art House - 2024)

Anthologies

*'' Approaching Literature in the 21st Century - ed. Peter Schakel and Jack Ridl'' (Bedford/St. Martin’s, Boston - 2005) *'' God’s Spies - ed. Alberto Manguel'' (Macfarlane, Walter & Ross, Toronto - 1999) *'' The Prison Where I Live, ed. Siobhan Dowd, Foreword by Joseph Brodsky'' (Cassell, London - 1996)

French

Novels

Written in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: *'' Les Saisons en Enfer du Jeune Ayyaz'' (Pauvert - Paris, 2000) *'' Shéhérazade et Son Romancier (2ème éd.)'' (Fayard - Paris, 2002) *'' Elias à New-York'' (Fayard - Paris, 2004) *'' Les Mystères de Mon Pays - vol. 1'' (Fayard - Paris, 2009) *'' Les Mystères de Mon Pays - vol. 2'' (Fayard - Paris, to be published 2012)

Short stories and other texts

*''

Lilith Lilith (; ), also spelled Lilit, Lilitu, or Lilis, is a feminine figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, theorized to be the first wife of Adam and a primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Eden ...

'' (Fayard - Paris, 2007)
Une Femme (remue.net - Paris, 2007)

Poems

*'' Aux papillons (excerpts)'' (Revue Diasporiques n°11 - Paris, 2010)

Notes

References

External links

Open Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baraheni, Reza 1935 births 2022 deaths Iranian male novelists Iranian novelists 20th-century Iranian poets Iranian emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Azerbaijani descent Naturalized citizens of Canada Iranian male short story writers International Writing Program alumni Poets from Tabriz Iranian Writers Association members Iranian male writers 21st-century Iranian poets Iranian Azerbaijanis