You are warmly invited to a talk by Dr Sam Hodgkin, followed by an informal reception and an opportunity to meet and speak with the speaker.
The event will take place on 28 July 2026 at 6:00 pm in Room 103, Brunei Gallery Building, SOAS University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG.
Dr Sam Hodgkin is Associate Professor at Yale University, where he directs the Yale Central Asia Initiative. He is the author of Persianate Verse and the Poetics of Eastern Internationalism (Cambridge University Press, 2023), winner of the USC Book Prize in Literary and Cultural Studies. His current book project explores how Iranian, Turkish, and Eastern Bloc Orientalists theorised classical Persian poetics over the course of the twentieth century.
In this talk, Dr Hodgkin will consider the place of Persian poetry within mid-twentieth-century literary internationalism, drawing on the remarkable materials held in the Jaleh Esfahani Cultural Foundation archive.
The major Persian modernist poet and literary critic Jaleh Esfahani, who was forced to leave Iran for the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the Second World War, spent her years in the USSR fostering literary exchanges across Persian, Russian, and Azeri Turkish, as well as among Iranian, Tajik, and Afghan Persian literary communities.
Drawing on archival material, the talk will examine highlights from Esfahani’s work as a translator of poetry and the reception of her own poetry in translation. It will also explore her contributions to literary diplomacy between the Second and Third Worlds and her important role in introducing Iranian literary modernism to writers and intellectuals in Central Asia.
We very much hope that you will be able to join us.
Please RSVP to Bonyad@jalehesfahani.com by 25 July 2026.
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, winner of the USC Book Prize in Literary and Cultural Studies. His current book project explores how Iranian, Turkish, and Eastern Bloc Orientalists theorised classical Persian poetics over the course of the twentieth century.In this talk, Dr Hodgkin will consider the place of Persian poetry within mid-twentieth-century literary internationalism, drawing on the remarkable materials held in the Jaleh Esfahani Cultural Foundation archive.The major Persian modernist poet and literary critic Jaleh Esfahani, who was forced to leave Iran for the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the Second World War, spent her years in the USSR fostering literary exchanges across Persian, Russian, and Azeri Turkish, as well as among Iranian, Tajik, and Afghan Persian literary communities.Drawing on archival material, the talk will examine highlights from Esfahani’s work as a translator of poetry and the reception of her own poetry in translation. It will also explore her contributions to literary diplomacy between the Second and Third Worlds and her important role in introducing Iranian literary modernism to writers and intellectuals in Central Asia.We very much hope that you will be able to join us.Please RSVP to Bonyad@jalehesfahani.com by 25 July 2026.&source=https://iisalumni.orghttps://dmluoj0wft2i7.cloudfront.net/assets/cdn/images/logos/7dd1046ebbd9c20c1fe1b1f9b2ff43b4.png "LinkedIn")
, winner of the USC Book Prize in Literary and Cultural Studies. His current book project explores how Iranian, Turkish, and Eastern Bloc Orientalists theorised classical Persian poetics over the course of the twentieth century.In this talk, Dr Hodgkin will consider the place of Persian poetry within mid-twentieth-century literary internationalism, drawing on the remarkable materials held in the Jaleh Esfahani Cultural Foundation archive.The major Persian modernist poet and literary critic Jaleh Esfahani, who was forced to leave Iran for the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the Second World War, spent her years in the USSR fostering literary exchanges across Persian, Russian, and Azeri Turkish, as well as among Iranian, Tajik, and Afghan Persian literary communities.Drawing on archival material, the talk will examine highlights from Esfahani’s work as a translator of poetry and the reception of her own poetry in translation. It will also explore her contributions to literary diplomacy between the Second and Third Worlds and her important role in introducing Iranian literary modernism to writers and intellectuals in Central Asia.We very much hope that you will be able to join us.Please RSVP to Bonyad@jalehesfahani.com by 25 July 2026. "Facebook")