The Kindly Interrogator

Alireza Abiz is a multi-award-winning Iranian poet, literary scholar, and translator.



Born in South Khorasan, Iran in 1968, Abiz studied English Literature in Mashhad and Tehran universities and received his PhD in Creative Writing-Poetry from Newcastle University in the UK. Abiz has written extensively on Persian contemporary literature and culture. His scholarly book Censorship of Literature in Post-Revolutionary Iran: Politics and Culture since 1979 was published in 2020 by Bloomsbury. He has so far published five collections of poetry in Persian; Stop! We Should Get Off!, Spaghetti with Mexican Sauce, I Hear My Desk as a Tree, 13/1 Koohsangee Street, and Black Line - London Underground. The latest collection published in 2017 was awarded the most prestigious independent poetry award in Iran, the Shamlou Award. His sixth collection, The Desert Monitor, will be published in 2021.

Abiz is has translated many leading poets including Rilke, Bunting, Walcott, Kerouac, and C.K. Williams into Persian. His translation of African Contemporary Art won him the Iranian Book of the Season Award for the best translation in visual arts in 2007. English, German and Arabic translations of his poetry have been published in numerous journals and anthologies and have been showcased in public places including Stuttgart subway in Germany. He has performed at many international festivals and acted as judge in numerous Persian language literary prizes. He is a board member of the Poetry Translation Centre and chaired the judges for the Sarah Maguire Poetry in Translation Prize 2020-2021. 

Abiz is the co-founder of MAHA, a Persian language online platform for art and literature and Editor of Radio Now podcasts. He lives in London where he works as a creative writing teacher, translator and researcher.