Sheema Kalbasi facts for kids

Sheema Kalbasi is a poet and writer from Iran, born on November 20, 1972, in Tehran. She also has Danish and American backgrounds. She writes about important topics like fairness for women, the effects of war, helping refugees, human rights, and the freedom to speak your mind. She also makes films that focus on issues affecting women, children, and minority groups. Sheema grew up in Pakistan and Denmark and now lives in the United States.

About Sheema Kalbasi

Sheema Kalbasi is a poet, a translator of literature, and a humanitarian. Her work has been recognized around the world. She has taught children who are refugees and worked with groups like the UNHCR. She also worked with the Center for Refugees in Pakistan and UNA Denmark. In Denmark, she even trained and served as a defense soldier.

Her Poetry and Recognition

Sheema's poems have been collected in books and translated into more than twenty languages. They have received much praise. In 2012, a Canadian Senator, Roméo Dallaire, ended a speech about Iran by reading parts of her poem, Hezbollah. This poem won an award called Harvest International. It has also appeared in other collections, like The Forbidden: Poems from Iran and its Exiles.

Her poem The Passenger was chosen to be performed at the Tribute World Trade Center in New York in 2008. In 2016, two of her poems, Possession and Dancing Tango, were turned into a song for a singer and piano. This song was performed at Old Dominion University. Sheema Kalbasi's poetry and translations are used in school lessons worldwide. They have also been made into short films and set to music.

A musical piece based on her work was performed at the Smithsonian National Museum. Her poem Refuge, from her book Spoon and Shrapnel, was chosen for a special collection called the 2026 Pushcart Prize anthology.

Her Books and Awards

Sheema Kalbasi wrote a poetry book called Echoes in Exile in 2006. This book is on the reading list for Women and Gender Studies at Stony Brook University. She has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. She was also nominated for the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. She has received a humanitarian award from the United Nations. She also received money from the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support her work.

Her Translation Work

Sheema also translates poems from other languages into English. She helped English speakers discover the poems of Jahan Khatun. Jahan Khatun was a princess and poet from Persia in the 14th century. She also translated the work of Mahasti Ganjavi, another medieval Persian poet.

She translated poems by Simin Behbahani, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twice. A composer in the Netherlands set these translated poems to music. Her translation of Forough Farrokhzad's poetry was featured in The Kenyon Review. This was to celebrate Farrokhzad's hundredth birthday. Her work has also been shown by PEN America and NPR.

A famous poet, Naomi Shihab Nye, wrote about Sheema's book Spoon and Shrapnel: Verse and Wartime Recipes. She said, "This book is a treasure. Sheema Kalbasi offers an exquisitely nourishing combination of simple, sustaining recipes recalled from her war-ravaged Iranian childhood, along with evocative poems asking essential questions—why so much war?”

Speaking Out for Others

In 2019, Sheema was invited to Rome to speak at the United Nations World Food Programme. She talked about how poverty can lead families to marry off their young children. She explained that this is a global problem. It happens in the Middle East, South Asia, South America, and even in some parts of the United States.

In 2009, Sheema Kalbasi joined 266 Iranian experts, writers, artists, and journalists. They signed an open letter published on Iranian.com. This letter apologized for and spoke out against the unfair treatment of Baháʼís.

Speaking Up for Freedom

Sheema Kalbasi strongly supports freedom of expression. She speaks out against governments that control everything and unfair systems. Through her writing and work around the world, she challenges government censorship. She also speaks against unfair treatment based on gender and efforts to silence certain groups.

Sheema’s work shows how women and minority groups are silenced. It also reveals the harsh foundations of religious rule, especially in Iran. She is deeply committed to speaking out. She believes that literature must fight against unfair rule and protect the dignity of those who are silenced.

Fighting for Gender Equality

Sheema Kalbasi's work addresses many important issues. These include unfair treatment based on gender, forced veiling, and child marriage. She also speaks about food shortages and hunger. These topics are very important in her creative work and public life. Sheema challenges the systems that allow violence and silence. She works to support dignity and human rights for everyone around the world.

Books by Sheema Kalbasi

• Spoon and Shrapnel: Verse and Wartime Recipes (Daraja Press, Canada, 2024)
• The Poetry of Iranian Women (Editor, Reel Content Publishing, USA, 2008)
• Seven Valleys of Love: A Bilingual Anthology of Women Poets from Medieval Persia to Present-Day Iran (Translator, Editor, PRA Publishing, USA, 2008)
• Echoes in Exile (PRA Publishing, USA, 2006) – A full book of poetry.
• Sangsar (Persian, Sinbad Publishing, USA, 2005)

Films by Sheema Kalbasi

Awards and Nominations

• Human Rights Award and Recognition, Center for Refugees, UNHCR, Islamabad, Pakistan
• Hezbollah, from Echoes in Exile, Best Poem, Harvest International.
• The Passenger, third place, Jersey works.

Nominations

• Echoes in Exile, Collection, [Annual Library of Virginia Literary Award], 2008
• Echoes in Exile, Pushcart Prize, 2008
• Seven Valleys of Love, The PEN Award for Poetry in Translation, 2008
• Seven Valleys of Love, Pushcart Prize, 2008
• Seven Valleys of Love, [Anisfield-Wolf Book Award], 2008

See also

• List of Iranian women