One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
Poetry From Iran, One Tweet At A Time
On Friday, Baghestani tweeted about the death of pop icon Michael Jackson.
Listen
0:00
Persians are known for their poetry. So it is not surprising that as recent dramatic events have unfolded in Iran, so many Iranians who have been alerting the world have written poetically — even in their tweets.
Meet 26-year-old Parham Baghestani. I reached Baghestani in the fabled Iranian city of Isfahan, where he lives. Isfahan is known for its exquisite turquoise domes and rich history in poetry and philosophy.
These past two weeks, Isfahan was also the scene of dissent as protesters took to the streets following Iran's disputed elections. Baghestani tweeted frequently, sometimes several times an hour; he even tweeted from the voting line on June 12.
But what's striking about Baghestani is not his politics — it's his prose. His tweets range from the mundane to the spiritual, and offer a window into the psyche and everyday life of an Iranian. Baghestani is an engineering student and Web developer specializing in e-learning and user-interface engineering. Here's a translation from his twitterverse — or better yet, his Persianverse.
It took the legendary 10th century Persian poet Ferdowsi 35 years to write his epic, the Shahnameh (Book of Kings). I asked Baghestani what Ferdowsi would have thought about Twitter.
"It's a little difficult to answer that question, but I'm sure he would use Twitter," Baghestani said. "Perhaps it would have published his poetry faster."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDA1OTI3MjQ5MDEyODUwMTE2MzM1YzNmZA004))
(
Lindsay Powell/NPR
)
Sponsored message
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
