To mark the 200th anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s West–Eastern Divan, we celebrate two new books: an annotated translation of the original Divan by Eric Ormsby and A New Divan: A Lyrical Dialogue between East and West by 24 contemporary poets writing poems inspired by Goethe’s Divan.
This event will be introduced by Eric Ormsby, followed by poetry from Fatemeh Shams and Mourid Barghouti, who will read their original compositions, while the English-language versions will be read by Narguess Farzad and George Szirtes. The conversation will be matched by a musical dialogue drawing on Hafiz songs set to music by composers Gottfried von Einem, Viktor Ullmann and Richard Strauss.