Haleh Liza Gafori: Celebrating the Launch of WATER, New translations of Rumi

An uplifting and transportive evening of music and recitation, immersing us in the images, rhythms, and liberating messages that pulse through

the poetry of the beloved mystic and poet Rumi. Acclaimed translator, performance artist, and vocalist, Haleh Liza Gafori will be joined by musical

guests James Bird and Loudingirra Ozdemir to celebrate the release of her 2nd volume of translations, entitled WATER, a follow-up to the

much-lauded GOLD, both published by New York Review Books (NYRB Classics). Singing and reciting in Persian and English, Haleh will weave original musical compositions, stories, and translations into a moving tapestry of word and song.

"Haleh Liza Gafori's pitch-perfect translation of Rumi updates and amplifies his mindful, muscular soul. Music, wit, and empathy color her lens.

"What a sweeping, invigorating read." – Terrance Hayes

"Water is immediate and timeless. These poems imprint on the heart. To read these verses is to enter mystery and paradox, to be burnished by the

sacred fire and broken open by the holiest dance.” – Suleika Jaouad

“These stunning translations of Master Rumi, at once gustatory and spiritual, cut the gloom of our existential doings. Imperative now, as ever, to know this beauty and love.” – Anne Waldman

"Ecstatic and piercing.” – V (formerly Eve Ensler)

“GOLD is everything Rumi was himself—sacred, profane, laugh out loud funny, deeply earnest, demotic, and yes, Persian.

There’s a rich fluency here not just in idiom but in gesture, in spirit." – Kaveh Akbar