Skip to content
Tuesday Agency
  • Speakers
  • Topics
  • Virtual Podium
  • About
  • Contact
Kaveh Akbar Portrait

Kaveh Akbar

“I think we all have the aesthetic mediums to which we are most permeable, and there’s a reason mine was poetry, because it creates a one-to-one relationship between you and the person that you’re reading or the person that you’re writing to.”

Down Arrow

“Kaveh Akbar renders the full spectrum of life, and death, with great beauty and care.” —Raven Leilani

Kaveh Akbar is not only one of the best-known poets in America for some time, but also one of the most well-recognized novelists of the last few years. His poetry appears in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Paris Review, Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. His bestselling debut novel, Martyr!, was a National Book Award Finalist and one of the New York Times Ten Best Books of the Year. His work is a welcome reminder that art and literature can save your life and sustain the soul.

Kaveh is the author of two poetry collections: Pilgrim Bell and Calling a Wolf a Wolf, in addition to a chapbook, Portrait of the Alcoholic. He is also the editor of The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 100 Poets on the Divine. Kaveh’s first novel, Martyr!, was an immediate bestseller. John Green praised it, saying, “So stunning, so wrenching, and so beautifully written that reading it for the first time, I kept forgetting to breathe. I will carry this story, and the people in it, with me for the rest of my life.”

The recipient of multiple Pushcart Prizes, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship, the Levis Reading Prize, and named one of the TIME 100 Next, Kaveh was born in Tehran, Iran, and currently lives in Iowa City, IA. He currently is one of two Roy J. Carver Professors of English at the University of Iowa. Kaveh continues to be a strong voice in the poetry community as the Poetry Editor for The Nation and the founder of Divedapper, a home for dialogues with the most vital voices in American poetry. With Sarah Kay and Claire Schwartz, he wrote a weekly column for the Paris Review called “Poetry RX.”

Links

  • website
  • Bio PDF
  • portrait
  • video
  • merch

Topics

  • Art & Design
  • Cultural Criticism
  • Ethics
  • Poetry
  • Social Justice

Book

Kaveh Akbar

For Your Next Event

To get started, enter your name and email here. An agent will get back to you shortly to discuss the details.

Loading

Not sure if this speaker is right for your event?

Call or email any time! We’re always happy to chat.

[email protected]

319-338-7080

Our Speakers
  • Cey Adams
  • Pragya Agarwal
  • Kaveh Akbar
  • Ayad Akhtar
  • Rumaan Alam
  • Hilton Als
  • Hala Alyan
  • Anthony Arnove
  • Andrew Aydin
  • Tareq Baconi
  • Elif Batuman
  • Alison Bechdel
  • Rich Benjamin
  • Thi Bui
  • Gemma Cairney
  • Rebecca Carroll
  • Mona Chalabi
  • Jessamine Chan
  • Craig Childs
  • Grace M. Cho
  • Sandra Clark
  • Andrei Codrescu
  • Tameka Cage Conley
  • Maureen Corrigan
  • Sloane Crosley
  • David Dennis Sr.
  • David Dennis Jr.
  • Rebecca Donner
  • Geoff Dyer
  • Dave Eggers
  • Joseph Ellis
  • Akwaeke Emezi
  • Camonghne Felix
  • Liana Finck
  • Isaac Fitzgerald
  • Stephanie Foo
  • Ben Fountain
  • Roxane Gay
  • Sarah Gerard
  • Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah
  • Michelle Goldberg
  • Anand Gopal
  • Rhiana Gunn-Wright
  • Alvin Hall
  • Mary Annaïse Heglar
  • Khaled Hosseini
  • Dave Isay
  • Mira Jacob
  • Evan James
  • Leslie Jamison
  • Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
  • Ashley M. Jones
  • Saeed Jones
  • Jamal Jordan
  • Brian Klaas
  • Alexandra Kleeman
  • Rachel Kushner
  • R.O. Kwon
  • Lyz Lenz
  • Daniel Levitin
  • Lisa Lucas
  • Jacki Lyden
  • Paul Lynch
  • Carmen Maria Machado
  • Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
  • Josh Malerman
  • Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
  • Sarah Thankam Mathews
  • Elizabeth McCracken
  • Debbie Millman
  • Natalia Molina
  • Tonya Mosley
  • Viet Thanh Nguyen
  • Tamara Toles O’Laughlin
  • Maulik Pancholy
  • Sarah Parcak
  • Morgan Parker
  • Ann Patchett
  • Bethanne Patrick
  • Dolen Perkins-Valdez
  • Junauda Petrus
  • Liz Phair
  • Hilary Price
  • Jon Ronson
  • Liara Roux
  • Sarah Ruhl
  • Sandy Rustin
  • Angela Saini
  • Carina del Valle Schorske
  • Lisa Scottoline
  • Jennifer Senior
  • Namwali Serpell
  • Merlin Sheldrake
  • Will Shortz
  • Sarah Smarsh
  • Virginia Sole-Smith
  • Andrew Solomon
  • James Spooner
  • Jason Stanley
  • Janaka Stucky
  • Amber Tamblyn
  • Nathan Thrall
  • Luis Alberto Urrea
  • Jeff VanderMeer
  • John Vercher
  • Krish O’Mara Vignarajah
  • Christina Vo
  • Daniel Wallace
  • Esmé Weijun Wang
  • Jemimah Wei
  • G. Willow Wilson
  • Kevin Wilson
  • Ilyon Woo
  • Jenna Wortham
  • Jenny Zhang

Kaveh Akbar - Do You Speak Persian?

the TUESDAY agency

Privacy Policy · Cookie Policy