REORIENT:

The last time I saw Karim Emami was in Tehran; it was March 2004. A few days later, my family emigrated to the United States. I was 18, and passionate about Persian adabiyat (a term that loosely translates to ‘literature’). At the dinner table, Rahim, Karim’s brother, asked what field I wished to pursue. It was an intimidating question. Karim and Goli were my mom’s ideal couple; the two were an intellectual powerhouse. I’d hear about their literary translations and interviews, and about Zamineh, their bookstore and publication house, which remarkably became, in its short life, a regular gathering place for writers and members of the literati in Tehran. During our last meeting, Karim gave me a copy of his newly-published translations of Sohrab Sepehri’s poetry,The Lover is Always Alone. ‘Fani, right?’ he asked me, before signing it. Elahiyeh, Nowruz of 1383, he wrote. Little did I know that Karim was to leave us only a year and a half later.

Go to link