Two-day conference showcases Iranian literature, arts April 8-9

In honor of exiled Iranian poet Reza Daneshvar, the Ithaca City of Asylum (ICOA) and Cornell will host a conference, "Translations of Exile: Iranian Literature and Arts in the West," Friday and Saturday, April 8-9. The two-day event includes readings and performances of music, theater and film by some of the most prominent Iranian artists and scholars in North America. It is free and open to the public.

Daneshvar is a playwright and novelist and current ICOA writer in residence. ICOA is a not-for-profit project affiliated with Cornell's Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (CRESP). Founded in 2001, the asylum project is part of a worldwide network supporting writers whose works are repressed, whose lives are threatened, whose cultures are vanishing and whose languages are endangered. Ithaca is the 27th City of Asylum worldwide and the second in the United States. For a complete listing of events and contact information, visit the CRESP Web site at http://www.cresp.cornell.edu.

The conference opens with three talks on Friday, April 8, starting at 1:45 p.m. in the A.D. White House. Speakers include: Abbas Milani, Notre Dame de Namur University; Houri Yavari, Columbia University; and Reza Baraheni, renowned Iranian poet and author. The talks will be followed by a screening of short films by Iranian filmmaker Shirin Neshat, 5 p.m., in the Philip Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall.

The conference resumes with two talks and a roundtable Saturday, April 9, at 10 a.m. in the A.D. White House. Morning speakers include Daneshvar and Sharnush Parsipur, an independent feminist scholar-writer whose works are banned in Iran.

Daneshvar and Parsipur will join a roundtable discussion on the politics of translation at 1:30 p.m. Other participants include: Baraheni, Milani, Yavari and Nahid Mozafferi, historian, editor and translator.

At 4 p.m., events shift to the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts Film Forum hall for a performance by Iranian actor-director-playwright Assurbanipal Babilla's monologue, "My Windows in Brooklyn or Welcome to America." Babilla's work will be followed by a screening of "The Troupe," a movie by Rabeah Ghaffari, Iranian filmmaker and actress.

The conference concludes with a reception at 6:30 p.m. in the A.D. White House with music provided by the Cornell Middle Eastern Music Ensemble.