Parviz Eslampour Information

Parviz Eslamipour was an Iranian poet and writer during the decades of the 1940s and 1950s. He is considered one of the most influential poets of volumetric poetry, surpassing even Yadollah Royaee. Islam-Pour was among the signatories of the volumetric poetry manifesto. This manifesto, after months of debate and discussion, was finally confirmed at Parviz Islam-Pour’s house and was signed by him, Mahmoud Shojaee, Bahram Ardabili, Houshang Azadivar, and Yadollah Royaee. The signing of this manifesto and its various interpretations have long been the subject of debate and discussion in literary circles in Iran. He was one of the key founders of other poetry.

Other Poetry Movement The idea of the Other Poetry Movement emerged in contrast to the prevalent poetry trend in Iran at that time, which was committed poetry. Other poets were influenced by the New Wave poets and, above all, by Forough Farrokhzad. Their inclination toward mysticism was evident not only in their poetry but also in their way of life, including Parviz Islam-Pour, until their last days. They expressed their views in the following volumes: “Other Poetry,” Volume One, published in 1347, cover painting by Hossein Zendehroodi, Ashrafi Publications.

Featuring poems by:

1. Jalal al-Din Bokhari, Saeb Tabrizi, Abu Bakr Shibli, Manouchehr Atashi
2. Nima Youshij, Tandor-Kia, Houshang Irani
3. Bahman Farsi, Manouchehr Atashi, Houshang Badiee-Nasrin, Mohammad Ali Sepanlou, Esmaeil Nouri Alaa, Davood Ramzi
4. Forough Farrokhzad, Davood Ramzi
5. Ahmad Reza Ahmadi, Parviz Islam-Pour, Marva, Iraj Shahidi-Zadeh, Houshang Chalangi, Hootan Najat, Mahmoud Shojaee, Hamid Erfan, Bahram Ardabili, Bijan Elahi
6. Guillaume Apollinaire, Yeghishe Charents, Federico Garcia Lorca, Goli Khalatbari, Cyrus Atabay “Other Poetry,” Volume Two, published in 1349, featuring poems by:

Nima Youshij

Bahram Ardabili Parviz Islam-Pour Bijan Elahi Houshang Chalangi Yadollah Royaee Forough Farrokhzad Mahmoud Shojaee Firouz Naji

A year after the introduction of “Other Poetry” to the literary community in Iran, Islam-Pour, along with Mahmoud Shojaee (poet and playwright), Bahram Ardabili (poet), Houshang Azadivar (poet and filmmaker), Firouz Naji (poet), and Yadollah Royaee (poet), signed the Volumetric Poetry Manifesto. This manifesto, after months of debate and discussion, was finally confirmed at Parviz Islam-Pour’s house. The signing of this manifesto and its various interpretations have long been the subject of debate and discussion in literary circles in Iran.

Parviz Islam-Pour, who had studied at the Nizam School, chose to distance himself from literature and painting and focus on literature. After publishing three poetry collections and reaching the peak of his literary activities at the age of 27, he achieved literary prominence. In addition to writing these books, he was among the first poets to have common poems with other poets, including Bijan Elahi. He also conducted several memorable interviews on literature and art, including interviews with Hossein Zendehroodi, articles on art such as an article on music titled “Self-Ecstasy of Ischkeshavzan,” interviews with Nasser Assar, and numerous notes and articles mostly published in literary magazines in the second half of the 1940s. The Tamasha magazine published an interview with him entitled “The Life of a Poet,” and in the same magazine, Manouchehr Atashi (poet) conducted a famous interview with him called “The Poet of Swift Leaps from the Depths.” Islam-Pour, who had a position at the Iranian Cultural House in France, left Iran after the Iranian Revolution with the intention of living in Paris. He then worked at the Georges Pompidou Cultural Center. From then on, he continued to write poetry and translate his poems into French regularly with his French wife, but he did not publish his works in book form. His poems, per his request and strong desire to avoid literary controversies, were sometimes published only on literary websites such as Adabi Mahe-Nameh magazine. Among the published works is a conversation between him and Yadollah Royaee, the poet and author of Volumetric poetry, which was published in the Adabi Mahe-Nameh magazine in 2009, and it was related to the summer of 2014. After that, fans of Islam-Pour, in addition to making his works available online, also published special articles about him and other poets of Other Poetry. Following these activities, a special issue dedicated to the poems of Parviz Islam-Pour was published in a supplement to the literary-cultural newspaper Asr-e Mardom in 2004.