Iranian Studies graduate student, Ashkaan Kashani received an honorable mention for his participation in the prestigious Mo Habib Translation Prize in Persian Poetry. His project was highly praised by the judges: “Iran’s first modernist poet, Nima Yushij, is still an elusive figure in today’s international reception of Persian literature. With his linguistically rigorous yet creatively subversive approach to translation, Ashkaan Kashani promises to revive Nima’s experimental rhythms and imagery in exciting new forms in a project poised to revolutionize our understanding of the lyric aesthetics that dominated 20th-century Iran. Kashani’s renditions go far, in the most musically convincing of ways, while submitting to the ineffable beauty of Nima’s innovations and sensitively piercing the original texts with care and attention.” Read the full official announcement here.