Haleh Gafori Performs GOLD RUMI

Acclaimed translator and vocalist Haleh Gafori returns to SNFL to perform original music, stories, and selections from her translations of Rumi's poetry, GOLD RUMI.

This event will take place in person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on the 1st floor.

In GOLD RUMI, the cross-media performance piece named after her book (published by New York Review Books in 2022), Haleh Liza Gafori weaves her acclaimed translations of Rumi’s poetry with music, original text, and songs, sung in Persian and English, a rich musical and poetic conversation in which 800-year old mystical thought dialogues with our times.

To join the event in-person | Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, registration does not guarantee admission, and all registered seats are released shortly before start time. Some seats will be available for walk-ins.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Haleh Liza Gafori is a performance artist, translator, vocalist, poet, and composer born in NYC of Persian descent. Her acclaimed book of translations, Gold, Poems by Rumi was published by New York Review Books. A bicultural woman with ears tuned to the music of American free verse as well as to the subtleties of the Persian text, Gafori aims to transmit the whirling movement and leaping progression of thought and imagery in Rumi’s poems into contemporary American poetry. Gafori is a 2024 MacDowell fellow, and the recipient of a 2023 New York State Council on the Arts grant supporting the development of her cross-media performance piece based on GOLD. Weaving translations, original text, and musical compositions sung in Persian and English, she offers audiences glimpses of the astonishing rhythm and wordplay of Rumi’s original text, while also uncovering how deeply and urgently the poetry dialogues with our times. Sharing her passion for Rumi’s poetry, Gafori has presented her cross-media piece, lectures, readings, and craft workshops at universities, festivals, and institutions including Stanford University, Swarthmore College, Sarah Lawrence College, Lincoln Center, Omega Institute, Le Poisson Rouge, Joe’s Pub, the Bradford Literary Fest, and the New York Public Library. Gafori’s writings and translations have been published by Harvard Review, Columbia University Press, the Brooklyn Rail, Literary Hub, and elsewhere. She is currently completing her second volume of translations which will also be released by New York Review Books.

GET THE BOOK

• Borrow: NYPL Catalog


• E-Book app: SimplyE, available on iOS and Android

Don't have a New York Public Library card? Get one here!

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

In-Person

• Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.


• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.


• This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

CONNECT WITH US

Sign up for our e-newsletters to stay up to date on upcoming events and Library offerings.

Please submit all press inquiries to Lizzie Tribone at least 48 hours before the event: email lizzietribone@nypl.org.
 

SUPPORT THE LIBRARY

The New York Public Library's free services and resources are made possible thanks to the support of the Friends of the Library. Join this group of Library lovers and take advantage of special membership benefits, like invitations to members-only virtual events, discounts at the Library Shop, and more. Join now.

All programs are subject to change or cancellation.