Shape of Extinction - Paperback

by Bijan Jalali (Author), Adeeba Shahid Talukder (Translator), Aria Fani (Translator)

Shape of Extinction brings together 59 short poems by the modernist Iranian poet Bijan Jalali, the first book-length selection of his meditative yet quietly radical approach to poetry. A critical introduction situates Jalali's work within the broader currents of modern Persian poetry and politics. With bilingual Persian-English texts presented in parallel, this volume invites readers-both familiar and new-to engage with Jalali's poetic vision.

Bijan Jalali (1927-1999) was an Iranian poet known for his brief, minimalist, meditative style. Departing from traditional Persian verse, his poems focus on the nature of poetic production, the cosmos, and nature. Though overlooked during his lifetime, Jalali's work has gained posthumous recognition for its quiet yet profound impact on modern Persian poetry. Adeeba Shahid Talukder is a Pakistani and Bengali-American poet, vocalist, and translator of Urdu and Persian poetry. She is the author of Shahr-e-jaanaan: The City of the Beloved (Tupelo Press, 2020), winner of the 2017 Kundiman Poetry Prize, and the chapbook What Is Not Beautiful (Glass Poetry Press, 2018). Her work has appeared in Washington Square Review, Gulf Coast, World Literature Today, Aleph Review, The Margins, Words Without Borders, and various other publications. Adeeba holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan and has received fellowships from Kundiman and Poets House. She is currently training in Hindustani classical music under Ustad Salamat Ali and is the recipient of a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. Aria Fani is an assistant professor of Persian and Iranian studies at the University of Washington, where he co-convenes the Translation Studies Hub. His first book, Reading across Borders: Afghans, Iranians, and Literary Nationalism (University of Texas Press, 2024), was translated into Persian by Shirazeh Press in Iran. Outside of academia, he advocates for non-citizen Americans, focusing on asylum seekers from Central America. Domenico Ingenito, Associate Professor of Iranian Studies at UCLA, specializes in premodern Persian literature, visual culture, and gender studies. His interdisciplinary research integrates philology, literary theory, and manuscript studies, focusing on Persian lyricism. His notable works include Beholding Beauty: Saʿdi of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetry (Brill, 2020) and the critical edition and Italian translation of Forugh Farrokhzad's collected poems, Io parlo dai confini della notte: tutte le poesie (Bompiani, 2023). Amelia Ossorio is an illustrator from Seattle who creates vibrant and playful designs that invite curiosity and nostalgia. She studies Persian at the University of Washington's Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures department and is one of Aria Fani's students.