Mehdi Mousavi
Mehdi Mousavi — poet, writer, editor, cultural activist, and pharmacist — is one of the leading figures of postmodern poetry in Iran. He has published more than eighteen collections of poetry and fiction, and through his teaching of literature at universities and cultural institutions has inspired a new generation of poets and writers.
For more than sixteen years, he held underground classes in literature, creative writing, philosophy, and the humanities — work that he continues online since leaving Iran. Mousavi has also served as a judge in several literary festivals, organised independent postmodern ghazal festivals, and collaborated with singers as a poet and lyricist. Together with Fatemeh Ekhtesari, he was editor-in-chief of the Postmodern Ghazal magazine until it was banned in 2008.
In 2015, after being sentenced to nine years in prison and ninety-nine lashes, Mehdi Mousavi fled Iran. Following a year and a half in Turkey, he arrived in Norway in January 2017 as an ICORN guest writer.
Work and Influence
Mehdi Mousavi is best known for his collections of poetry and for founding the Postmodern Ghazal movement — an innovative trend that emerged in the late 1990s, seeking to free the language and vision of Persian ghazal from traditional constraints. Many of his works were banned in Iran and circulated underground among readers.
Alongside his own poetry, Mousavi has played an influential role in introducing new voices to contemporary Iranian poetry through his teaching, creative writing workshops, and literary circles.
Selected Works
- The Angels Committed Suicide
- The Little Bird Was Neither Little Nor a Bird!
- (Theory) An Introduction to Prosody in Simple Language
- Its Food Is Aubergine
- With the Mice
- (Novel) Dialogue in Tehran
- Clowning Before the Firing Squad
- In the Samurai Way
- (Novel) A Thousand and Some Nights
- In Praise of Despair
Prison and Exile
In December 2013, Mehdi Mousavi discovered he was banned from leaving Iran when attempting to travel to Turkey. A few days later, IRGC intelligence agents raided his home and arrested him. All his personal belongings, handwritten notes, and work files were confiscated, and he was transferred — blindfolded and in handcuffs — to Ward 2-A of Evin Prison.
He spent 38 days in solitary confinement, subjected daily to long interrogations and psychological and physical pressure.
In January 2014, following growing international pressure, he was released on bail but forbidden from engaging in literary activity or using social media for two years.
His case was referred to Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Moghiseh. Mousavi and his lawyer repeatedly stated that the court sessions were merely performative and that the judge acted under the influence of IRGC interrogators. Ultimately, he was sentenced to nine years in prison and ninety-nine lashes for his literary activities and for organising poetry workshops.
After the sentence was upheld in the appeals court, Mousavi was forced to flee Iran illegally. He spent over a year in the Turkish cities of Van and Eskişehir before being invited by the ICORN organisation and receiving a two-year literary fellowship in the city of Lillehammer, Norway, where he continues his work as a guest writer.
