Michael Zand

Michael Zand is a writer, editor and researcher. He was born in Iran, but has spent most of his life in London, where he is now Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Roehampton. His research interests lie in alternative translations of Middle Eastern poetry, the use of psychogeography in contemporary literature, and modern readings of the medieval notion of the “Ashik” or wandering poet. His collections include Kval (Arthur Shilling, 2009) and Lion: The Iran Poems (Shearsman, 2010). He was included in the Best Poetry of 2011 anthology (Salt, 2011) and won the Roehampton Poetry Performance Prize in 2008. His latest collection, The Wire and Other Poems, was published by Shearsman Books in 2012. Michael has participated in various collaborations with musicians and multi-media artists and read at a wide range of poetry events across Europe. Other projects include an on going international translation project called Lexico. He is currently working on a contemporary translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam entitled Ruby. In February 2013 his sequence of poems entitled “Pang” was included in an exhibition on “Poets of the Thames” at the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading, Berkshire.