Iran, Azerbaijan to honor poet Shahriar

Iran and Azerbaijan will hold a joint international congress on Iranian-Azari poet Mohammad Hossein Behjat Tabrizi, known as Shahriar, on July 16. The congress will be held in the Iranian border city of Poldasht at Nakhchivan State University in the morning and at Enqelab Hall in the afternoon. After reading papers at the congress, attendees will participate in the unveiling ceremony of Shahriar statue in Poldasht, the governer of Pakdasht Jalil Ghaffari told in a press conference on Saturday. Seyyed Mohammad-Hossein Behjat Tabrizi (1906-1988), chiefly known by his pen name Shahriar, wrote in Persian and Azari. Shahriar published his first book of poems in 1929, with prefaces by Mohammad-Taghi Bahar, Saeid Nafisi, and Pejman Bakhtiari. His poems are mainly influenced by Hafez. His most famous poem, “Heidar Babaya Salam”, is considered to be among the best modern poems in the Azari language and has been made into a few plays. The poem is very popular among the Azari people.   From / Tehran Times