Prof. Dick Davis, “Nezami’s Khosrow and Shirin”
Prof. Dick Davis (University of Ohio, Emeritus) will discuss a 12th century masterpiece of Persian poetry– Khosrow and Shirin, a tragic romance by the poet Nezami Ganjavi–and read from his new translation of it.
Dick Davis, a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, is “widely acknowledged as the leading translator of Persian literature in our time”(The Washington Post). Dr. Davis’ latest work is a translation of Nezami Ganjavi’s Khosrow and Shirin, the story of Iranian prince Khosrow’s love for the Armenian princess Shirin. This is a tumultuous tale in which the exigencies of politics and warfare intertwine with no less powerful forces of erotic desire and the quest for personal and spiritual fulfilment.
The event is part of the Sharzadand Farhad Jalinous Lecture Series of the Persian Studies Program, and is co-organized and co-sponsored by the Global Medieval Studies Program and the Georgetown Humanities Initiative.