Poetry

Esfandiar Ahmadi  

Esfandiar, a scientist by education and an academic by profession sees himself as a poetical painter and imagist poet who uses free verses.

He was born in Shiraz in the South West of Iran. He grew up in one of the oldest cities in ancient Persia, a city known by many Iranian as the city of poets – such as Saadi (13 century) and Hafez (14 century)- wine, nightingales and gardens. Both these poets influenced his poetic vocabulary which reflects their mystical and lyrical fusion. He moved to England in 1980 to further his study and joined Pegasus poets in 2008. Over the last twenty years, he has held solo and group exhibitions and read his poems at various conferences and literary circles. He was also running a literary circle called the Thursday Group from 1995 to 2005 which he was the founder.

In his poetry he explores different forms, and he has been influenced by four unique types of Persian Poetry the Hema’seh (epic), the Ghasideh

 (a purpose), the Masnavi (a narrative poem), and the Ghazal (a sonnet), reflecting his cultural heritage.

Esfandiar Ahmadi is the author of five poetry collections in English with three books of figurative drawings and abstract paintings, and three poetry collections in his Persian mother tongue which are ready to be published.

His poems have been a source of inspiration for a series of his paintings.

Esfandiar Ahmadi won an award and sponsorship from Leighton House Museum in London for his exhibition of paintings inspired by the mystic Persian poet Rumi. A number of his short poems use the Japanese haiku form, which is meditation on nature.

Both his poetry and art are an enquiry into a hidden realm of the human psyche, and in this sense they are deeply connected.