dR Parwana fayyaz
Scholar, Poet, Translator
I am a scholar and teacher of Persian literature written between 1000 and 1600, specialising in long narrative poems (masnavi). I am also a poet and translator working with multiple languages. My first collection of poetry, Forty Names, inspired by the Afghan-Persian storytelling tradition, was published in 2021 and was named a New Statesman Book of the Year and a White Review Book of the Year. Forty Names is translated into Italian and Hebrew.
Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, I was raised in Pakistan as a refugee. I studied at Stanford, earning my B.A. in comparative literature and an M.A. in Religious Studies, and then at Trinity College, Cambridge, where I completed my PhD in 2020. Shortly thereafter, I was elected to a four-year postdoctoral fellowship at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where I currently live, teach, and write. I will be joining the University of Virginia's Department of Middle Eastern & South Asian Languages & Cultures as an assistant professor in January of 2025.
Upcoming events
On Poetry and Poetics:
Online Book Launch "Citizen Poet: New and Selected Essays" by Eavan Boland 19:00, Wednesday 2 October 2024 [https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KClZWAl_R2Os9FbafxoxAw?mc_cid=0cb79ac74a#/registration]
***
On Non-Fiction & Afghanistan, on MY DEAR KABUL:
Monday 16 September 2024. 19:00-20:30.
@British Library Pigott Theatre and online
[The Story of the Afghan Women’s Writing Group]
*
Tuesday 17 September 2024, 12.00-14.00 Venue: The Weston Room, Maughan Library, King’s College London
[Panel Discussion: Dear Diary - from the personal to the collective]
*
Saturday 19 October 2024 @ 5:00 pm @Wimbledon Book Festival
[My Dear Kabul
Stories of Afghanistan: Reporting from the Front Line]
Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, I was raised in Pakistan as a refugee. I studied at Stanford, earning my B.A. in comparative literature and an M.A. in Religious Studies, and then at Trinity College, Cambridge, where I completed my PhD in 2020. Shortly thereafter, I was elected to a four-year postdoctoral fellowship at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where I currently live, teach, and write. I will be joining the University of Virginia's Department of Middle Eastern & South Asian Languages & Cultures as an assistant professor in January of 2025.
Upcoming events
On Poetry and Poetics:
Online Book Launch "Citizen Poet: New and Selected Essays" by Eavan Boland 19:00, Wednesday 2 October 2024 [https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KClZWAl_R2Os9FbafxoxAw?mc_cid=0cb79ac74a#/registration]
***
On Non-Fiction & Afghanistan, on MY DEAR KABUL:
Monday 16 September 2024. 19:00-20:30.
@British Library Pigott Theatre and online
[The Story of the Afghan Women’s Writing Group]
*
Tuesday 17 September 2024, 12.00-14.00 Venue: The Weston Room, Maughan Library, King’s College London
[Panel Discussion: Dear Diary - from the personal to the collective]
*
Saturday 19 October 2024 @ 5:00 pm @Wimbledon Book Festival
[My Dear Kabul
Stories of Afghanistan: Reporting from the Front Line]
