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2 Poets Reading:
Roger Sedarat and Esther Kamkar
San Mateo Public Library
Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 5:30PM
Esther Kamkar: Recipient of an Artist Grant from the Peninsula Community Foundation (2001) and a grant from the Clay and Glass Arts Foundation (2003) to conduct a series of workshops on poetry and handmade bookmaking for children in the Ecumenical Hunger Project in East Palo Alto. Esther Kamkar was born in Tehran, Iran and started writing poems in 1989. She is the author of Hum of Bees, Hummingbird Conditions, and A Leopard in My Pocket. Esther lives and writes in Palo Alto, CA.augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.
Roger Sedarat: is the author of Dear Regime: Letters to the Islamic Republic, which won Ohio UP's 2007 Hollis Summers Prize, and Ghazal Games (Ohio UP, 2011). His translations of classical and modern Persian verse have appeared in World Literature Today, Drunken Boat, and Asymptote. He teaches poetry and literary translation in the MFA program at Queens College, City University of New York. Rodger's website: www.sedarat.com
Free program, free parking. Space is limited so be there early!
Where: 1st Floor Laurel Room, San Mateo Public Library,55 West 3rd Avenue,San Mateo, CA 94402
When: Weds, May 23, 2012 — 5:30 PM
More Info: (650) 522-7845
Website: www.smplibrary.org
www.iranianamericanwriters.org
Mail Art in Open Stal ArtRoute
Oldeberkoop, the Netherlands
28 July - 16 August 2012
Open Stal is an artroute in the beautiful village Oldeberkoop in the north of the Netherlands. The artroute has a tradition of 40 years. Each year about 10.000 people visit the route to see the work of 40 to 50 artist who participate, inspired by the changing themes. This year's theme is Sign and Language.
Openstal website
For this exhibition Esther Kamkar has submitted 3 mixed-media collages, inspired by Librotraficante (a group of book smugglers who smuggle banned school books to Arizona) and ancient Aztec Codices which were painted on Amate bark.
Esther Kamkar's Mail Art submissions are shown below. Click image to see a larger version.
Arizona Codex I
Arizona Codex II
Arizona Codex III
Event: 5th Anniversary of The Car Bombing of Al-Mutanabbi St
Gathering and Reading ~ March 2, 7:30PM at The Great Overland Book Co
 A gathering of the al-Mutanabbi Street "family" and a memorial reading.
Readers:
Deema Shehabi
Esther Kamkar
Jose Luis Guiterrez Annemarie Munn
Bill Denham
Beau Beausoleil
Friday, March 2, 7:30PM
The Great Overland Book Company
345 Judah Street, San Francisco
(at Ninth Ave) CA 94122
415-664-0126 (MAP)
 From left: Esther Kamkar, Mojdeh Marashi, Persis Karim
Event: Poetry & Peace
with Esther Kamkar, Mojdeh Marashi
and Persis Karim
Sunday, Feb 26, 2:00PM Saratoga Library
13650 Saratoga Avenue, Saratoga, CA 95070, 408-867-6126 www.sccl.org (MAP)
Readings by Esther Kamkar and Shirindokht Nourmanesh
December 11, 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM
San Jose Arts Exchange provides a voice and venue for international artists from Portugal, Iran, Korea, Germany, Kenya, Indonesia, Taiwan, Bosnia, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey and Japan.
Film Showing: the D.V.A. Production of 'The Chiang Mai Project'.
Plus: Holiday Sale Art, Books and CDs
Where: King Library, 150 E. San Fernando St., San Jose ~
Rooms 225 & 229 MAP
When: December 11, 2011 ~ 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM
More info: shirindokht@sbcglobal.net or sherie@pixelsplice.com
Sponsored by the Language & Arts Institute ~ Donations appreciated
Esther Kamkar will be featured reader
Not Yet Dead Poets Society
Main Gallery, Weds Nov 2, 7:00pm
The evening will be hosted by Casey FitzSimons and will be followed by open mic.
Where: Main Gallery, 1018 Main Street, (NW corner of Middlefield & Main), Redwood City, CA 94063 MAP
When: Wednesday November 2nd, 7:00PM to 9:00PM-ish
More Info: Phone (650) 701-1018
Note: The Not Yet Dead Poets Society reading series is held on the first Wednesday of each month ~ bring your poem for Open Mic.
 Come and enjoy this 2011 San Francisco LitCrawl event - 'The Sting of Truth'
Esther Kamkar will read from her new book 'Hum of Bees' at the Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper venue. She will read with five other poets and authors as part of the San Francisco 2011 Lit Crawl 'Sting of Truth' event. Come and enjoy!
Cheryl Dumesnil is the author of In Praise of Falling, editor of Hitched! Wedding Stories from San Francisco City Hall, and co-editor with Kim Addonizio, of Dorothy Parker’s Elbow: Tattoos on Writers, Writers on Tattoos.
Christian Gullette’s poems have appeared or are forthcoming in OCHO, Knockout, Pulsepoint, and the anthology Divining Divas. He is the assistant poetry editor of The Cortland Review.
Dorine Jennette is the author of Urchin to Follow (2010). Her work has appeared in places like Verse Daily, the Journal, and Puerto del Sol.
 Esther Kamkar was born in Iran and lives and works in Palo Alto. Her new book Hum of Bees was published in June 2011.
Peter Kline’s poems have appeared in Ploughshares, Tin House, Poetry, Crazyhorse, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of the 2010 Morton Marr Prize from Southwest Review.
Ryan Teitman is the author of the poetry collection Litany for the City, forthcoming from BOA Editions.
Where: Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper - 3520 20th, Suite C - San Francisco, CA - MAP
When: October 15, 7:15 to
8:15pm
Esther Kamkar will be Guest Poet at the Exiled Lit Cafe in London - Monday 6 June, 2011, 7:30PM
 The Exiled Lit Cafe is part of Exiled Writers Ink, an organization that gives writers in exile a platform to expose their work to a wider audience, via seminars, workshops, conferences, interactive performances, schools and festivals.
Where: Exiled Lit Cafe (Poetry Cafe), 22 Betterton Street, London WC2 - MAP
When: Monday 6 June, 7:30PM
Details: First half - theme or person, then coffee!
Second half - open mic session
Cost: £4 or £2 for members.
Further info: visit Exiled Writers Ink website
Left to right: Yvonne Green, Colette Littman and Esther Kamkar
Exiled Writers Ink, Spiro Ark and Harif present...
JEWISH WOMEN's VOICES of THE EAST
Spiro Ark Events Centre, London W1
Sunday 12 June, 2011 - 8PM
Three women poets with roots in the Middle East come together to read their work and discuss issues of identity, womanhood and their relationships with their countries of birth.
Esther Kamkar was born in Tehran, Iran. She has lived in the USA since 1973 and is on a special visit to London. Her collection of poetry is entitled Hummingbird Conditions (Ziba Press 2002) and her poetry has been widely published in numerous magazines and anthologies.
Yvonne Green's mother's family came to Boukhara in Central Asia 2,700 years ago to buy the silks for Solomon's Temple. A prize-winning poetess, journalist and essayist, Yvonne has read her poems on BBC Radio 4. Her first collection, The Assay, is shortly to enter its third edition. Her second collection -- a book of translations of the WW2 poet - revered in Russia but unknown in the West, - Semyon Lipkin, will be out in October 2011. In 2012 she will publish a book with Dr. Maisie Meyers about the lives of Shanghai's Iraqi Jews.
Colette Littman was expelled as a Jewish refugee from her native Egypt in 1956. As well as the publisher of the Littman Library of Jewish Civilisation, she is a talented poetess, winning Ist Prize in a National Poetry competition. The Spiro Ark has held a reading of her poetry and will schedule another later this year.
Chaired by Jennifer Langer of Exiled Writers Ink
Where: The Spiro Ark Centre, 25-26 Enford Street, London W1 H 1DW - MAP
When: SUNDAY 12 JUNE 2011, 8PM
Tickets: £8 from The Spiro Ark - Ph: 020 7723 9991, Fax: 0207 723 8191 or at the door.
Info: SpiroArk Events website - www.harif.org - www.exiledwriters.co.uk
Email: education@spiroark.org
Where: Engineering Auditorium, San Jose State University - MAP
When: Thursday, March 10, 2011, 7:00pm
Free and open to the public
 Expressions Gallery,
Friday Night, Nov 19
Reading: Al-Mutanabbi Street Opening - October 14, 5-7pm
With thanks to the Al-Mutanabbi Street Broadsides Project (Beau Beausoleil)
 Readers:
Deema Shehabi, Bettina Pauly and Esther Kamkar
Where: The Tides Foundation in The Presidio, SF (MAP)
When: October 14th Time: 5-7pm
Esther Kamkar (left) and Katayoon Zandvakili (right)
July 2010 Poets of the Month: Esther Kamkar and Katayoon Zandvakili, at the Levantine Cultural Center, Los Angeles
"The featured anthology for July 2010 is Let Me Tell You Where I've Been - New Writing By Women of the Iranian Diaspora, edited by Persis M. Karim with foreword by: Al Young (University of Arkansas Press).
This first anthology of writing by women of the Iranian diaspora features over one hundred selections of poetry, fiction and nonfiction from over fifty contributors. Through literature, the anthology explores the influences of history, revolution, war, exile, and immigration.
We present to you two poets from this wonderful collection, Esther Kamkar and Katayoon Zandvakili" -- Sholeh Wolpé
Read More
 On Saturday, June 19, 2pm to 4.30pm, Esther Kamkar will join a group of fellow Iranian American poets, writers and musicians,
This literary reading and musical performance marks the 1-year anniversary of the disputed Iranian Elections - with a special report on the status of those writers, journalists and bloggers who have fled Iran in fear of torture and execution.
Readings by: Massud Alemi :: Farnaz Fatemi :: Tissa Hami :: Esther Kamkar :: Persis Karim :: Beatrice Motamedi :: Shirindokht Nourmanesh :: Ari Siletz
Musical Performances by: Hossein Massoudi and Ramin Zoufonoun
 When: Saturday, June 19, 2010, 2pm to 4.30pm
Where: Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San Jose, Room 225-229,
150 East San Fernando Street, San Jose 95112 -- MAP
Donations: $10 ($5 Students). Proceeds to benefit Iranian Refugees Alliance, Inc
For more info contact: Persis Karim (408) 924-4476 and Shirindokht Nourmanesh shirindokht@sbcglobal.net Press Release Facebook
Co-sponsored by: Kavosh Women's Organization, Martin Luther King Jr. Library, United4Iran, and Veesta Arts & Lectures.
Artwork: © 2009 hadiheidari2000@yahoo.com
Banner: "To stay alive you must slay silence" - Simin Behbehan
A House
Grows on my head
its hallways lead
into the ear canals
and cochleae
words you
pech-pech-pech
in my ear
find their own
place in the house
and fit together
like Majolica tiles
in the whispering
room in Alhambra
no words break
into shards
to wound
even fragments
tessellate
to infinity.
Esther Kamkar and others will be reading for this event to mark the 3rd anniversary of the Muttanabi street bombing.
Date: March 5, 2010
Time: Starts 7.30pm
Where: The Great Overland Book Company, 345 Judah St (between 8th Ave & 9th Ave), San Francisco, CA 94122 - MAP
Contact Info: (415) 664-012
 New innovative magazine reflects exciting, different voices in a new cultural environment. Content features literature, discussion and commentary. Exiled Ink is unique in providing an insight into dislocation and cultures of exile, both through the voices of exiled writers and through their literary work.
Conflict Zones - Sri Lanka
Poetry: R. Cheran, Thirumavalavan, Sivamohan Sumathy
Prose: Rohini Hensman
Articles: Sri Lankan Tamil Poetry - Rohini Hensman, Historical Background - Lakshmi Holmstrom
Iran
Poetry: Sholeh Wolpe, Esther Kamkar (Animals that We Are), Majid Naficy, Afshin Babzadeh, Reza Hiwa
Articles: Last Straw for Iranians - Fariba Marzban, Haleh Esfandiari - Claire Messud
Syria (Kurdish)
Poetry: Hussein Habash
Chechyna
Poetry: Mikhail Isin Eldin
Article: Apti Bisultanov - Sieglinde Geisel
Short Story: Tamara Islamova
Bosnia
Theatre Production and Script excerpts
Exiled Writers Ink National Mentoring and Translation Project
Poetry and Prose
Latin American Exile
Prose: Marta Raquel Zabelata Hinrichsen/ Alfredo Cordal
Poetry: Gisela Jachniuk
Exiled from Israel
Poetry: Haim Bresheeth
Writing Africa
Short Story: Fiston Mwanza
Poetry: Kiluanji Kush
Article: Caine Prize: Nisha Jones
Reviews
Anthology of Somali Literature - review: Stephen Watts
Leaving Tangiers by Tahar Ben Jelloun - review: Albert Pellicer
Rooftops of Tehran by Sholeh Wolpe - review: Jeremy Edward Shiok
Like Myth and Mother by S. Sumathy - review: Lynette Craig
:: Contact Info and Website: www.exiledwriters.co.uk
We Are All Iran: A Literary Reading to Mark the 6-month Anniversary of the Iranian Elections
The June 12, 2009 Iranian presidential election put the international spotlight on Iran and the courageous acts of its citizens who filled the streets of Tehran to protest the election results. The days and weeks that followed June 12th--when ordinary citizens took to the streets to protest, to raise their voices-- inspired people around the globe..
As the months have dragged on and media coverage has waned, the U.S. news headlines have refocused on Iran's nuclear ambitions--and by doing so have minimized the spirit and energy of the Iranian people in their efforts to challenge their government.
To remember and bear witness to the extraordinary courage of the Iranian people, Bay Area writers from the Association of Iranian American Writers (AIAW) will share their literary work at the San Francisco Public Library.
Bay Area poets and novelists will read from published and recent work and invite members of the community to share with us as we remember the courage and sacrifice of those in Iran struggling for democracy, human rights, and to have their voices heard.
Authors to read include:
- Persis Karim (introduction)
- Laleh Khadivi
- Esther Kamkar
- Elizabeth Eslami
- Ari Siletz
- Anahid Hojjati
- Farnoosh Seifoddini
- Tissa Hami
- Katayoon Zandvakili
- Angella Nazarian
Date: Saturday, December 12, 2009
Time: 2pm to 4pm
Where: San Francisco Public Library
Career Tip
From a 2009 Letter Addressed to Jamie Dimon , CEO of JP Morgan Chase
You tell your shareholders:
This was perhaps our best year ever
And give them career tips:
Keep a two-column to-do list
and update it throughout the day —
things you owe people
and things people owe you.
Consider these for your own list
in your pocket, Jamie Dimon —
things left behind, when people
are forced to leave their homes:
Empty prescription bottles
Hospital bed
Insulin needles
Tonka dump truck
Report card with As and Bs under a magnet
A pile of clothes hiding a small child’s artificial leg
Crayons scattered in the bedroom with the peeling princess mural
Wedding album discarded in the garage
Stack of unopened bills
Thomas the Train
“Get Rich in Real Estate” book
List after list
full of things and non-things.
Lists empty of things.
More new poems...
Reading by Authors from the Association of Iranian American Writers (AIAW) in conjunction with the Art Exhibit
One Day: A Collective Narrative of Tehran at Intersection for the Arts, November 21, 2009
With a Musical Performance by
Hossein Massoudi & Ramin Zoufonoun
Inspired by artwork from the One Day: A Collective Narrative of Tehran exhibit, Bay Area Iranian American writers will read recent and new works of poetry and prose....
Mojdeh Marashi
Esther Kamkar
Farnaz Fatemi
Parissa Ebrahimzadeh
Siamak Vossoughi
Nazy Kaviani
Zara Houshmand
Ari Siletz
....will read in the gallery at Intersection for the Arts.
The afternoon includes an added musical performance by Hossein Massoudi (singer and percussionist from the Persian-fusion band Aleph Null who will perform with Bay Area expert tar player Ramin Zoufonoun.
One Day: A Collective Narrative of Tehran features the work of eight artists living in Tehran, Iran – Nima Alizadeh, Saba Alizadeh, Mohammad Ghazali, Ghazaleh Hedayat, Abbas Kowsari, Mehran Mohajer, Neda Razavipour, and Homayoun Sirizi – alongside new work by San Francisco- based artist Taraneh Hemami -- this exhibition compiles a collective narrative of everyday Tehran, the largest city in the Middle East and the 16th most populated city in the world with close to 8 million residents.
Representing the current unpredictability of each day in Tehran and also the hope that comes from imagining a better future, the artists chronicle narratives of place and time, demystifying life in a country that has been misunderstood and maligned for decades.
Date: Saturday, November 21, 2009
Time: 2pm to 4:30 pm
Where: Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Tickets are available at the door.
Sliding scale: $5-15
For more information: (415) 626-2787 www.theintersection.org
The Intersection for the Arts -- Calendar
New MP3 audio poems for listening and downloading
 Esther Kamkar reading at the 'Voice music from 10 composers' concert, San Francisco Community Music Center.
Esther Kamkar has been invited to read together with Charlotte Muse and Terry Adams of Waverley Writers, for the recording of the Live Poets Society TV show at the Palo Alto Media Center.
The recording date has been set for September 22 and the program is scheduled for broadcast sometime after this.
The regular host of the Live Poetsshow has also invited Esther to host her own one-time show and invite her own guests. This is scheduled for sometime in October. We'll keep you posted.
Esther Kamkar and other contributors will read from the 'Mutanabbi Street Starts Here' Anthology (forthcoming 2009, Red Hen Press) to mark the 2nd anniversary of the Mutanabbi Street Bombing, Baghdad, Iraq.
Come and share an evening of poetry and prose written and read by poets and writers from Iraq and the USA.
Where: At the Great Overland Book Company
345 Judah St. San Francisco, CA (on the N Judah Line @ 9th)
When: 7.30pm, Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Contact: Phone (415) 664-0126 for further information.
Hosted by The Mutanabbi Street Coalition and Beau Beausoleil
Update from Esther:
"The reading was in a funky and lovely used-books bookstore in San Francisco, Borderline Books, the owner, Beau Beausoleil, is the originator of Mutanabbi Starts Here. About 30 people came up to the second floor, and ten people read what we were assigned to read...poets, writers and journalists' memories, or interpretation of the old booksellers street and the history of publishing, selling, underground publishing of banned books, the river that has witnessed destruction over and over...
It was a powerful reading night. It was good to read another poet's work, it took me out of myself. I was glad I had listened to the poet reading 'my poem' in Arabic."
Esther Kamkar co-wins Poetry Fellowship 2008
Esther Kamkar (above) of Palo Alto and Sarah Phoenix of Redwood City were this year’s co-winners for the Richard Maxwell Fellowship in Poetry. Judges noted the competition of worthy poets made the decision difficult, even as they agreed on co-winners rather than a single winner.
The fellowship provides free access to all conference readings, workshops and seminars. Each winner will receive a signed copy of one book, dinner with faculty, and a feature in the open reading.
 From left: Esther Kamkar, Eddie Gale, Georgette Gale
I was honored to be included, to read with the Inner Peace Orchestra's immensely talented musicians and Eddie's soulful trumpet, through his loving directions. Eddie Gale told the audience to pay attention to their own inner peace...without it there won't be peace in the world.
Nov 2007 - Concert for World Peace
Featuring the Inner Peace Orchestra
founded and directed by Eddie Gale
The performance will consist of music from the
Eddie Gale Library and poetry by Esther Kamkar
When: Saturday, November 17 2007, 7pm
Where: First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto
625 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301
For ticket info and enquiries call 650-323-6167
Esther Kamkar featured in Monterey Poetry Review
Spring 2007, Vol.3/No.1 "Childhood" edition
Read more here
Esther Kamkar poem appears in Iranian.com
"Joys of a Simple Meal" - Read it here
Anthology review in Iranian.com
Review by Jasmin Darznik here
Anthology review in Publishers Weekly
Read an excerpt here
January 28 - Persis Karim, Esther Kamkar and contributing authors - Pleasanton Library - Women of the Iranian Diaspora
Reading from the anthology Let Me Tell You Where I've Been.
When: Sunday, January 28, 2007, 2pm (Free)
Where: Pleasanton Public Library, 400 Old Bernal Ave, Pleasanton, CA94566.
February 2 - Waverley Writers Group with Esther Kamkar, Persis Karim and Farnaz Fatemi
Readings from the anthology Let Me Tell You Where I've Been edited by Persis Karim.
When: Friday, February 2, 2007, 7.30pm (Free)
Where: Waverley Writers Group, convening at the Friends' Meeting House, 957 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto.
November 29 - Esther Kamkar and contributing authors -
San Francisco Main Library - Enemy Nations, Emerging Voices
- a reading of two groundbreaking anthologies: Let Me Tell You Where I've Been and Literature from the Axis of Evil.
When: Wednesday, November 29, 6-8pm (Free)
Where: San Francisco Main Library Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, Phone 415/557-4277
October 20 - Esther Kamkar and Persis Karim
Persian Excursion - Palo Alto Public Library - for all ages
A wonderful evening celebrating Iranian and Middle Eastern cultures with a reading by poets Esther Kamkar and Persis Karim (Let Me Tell You Where I've Been: New Writings by Women of the Iranian Diaspora), a performance by members of the Niosha Dance Academy, and music by Ahl-i Nafs (People of the Spirit).
Persian refreshments will be served.
When: Friday, October 20, 7.30pm
Where: Palo Alto Main Library, 1213 Newell Rd, Palo Alto.
Phone: 650-329-2436
October 11 - Esther Kamkar and contributing authors
Let Me Tell You Where I've Been - Stanford University
When: Wednesday, October 11, 4pm
Where: Stanford University, 5th floor, Bender Room, Green Library.
August 25 - Esther Kamkar Poetry Reading -
Politics & Prose Book Shop
When: Friday, August 25, 7pm
Where: Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008, Toll Free: 1-800-722-0790
August 13 - Esther Kamkar & Nina Koepke - Poetic Images
A poetry and clay collaboration at The Main Gallery
When: Sunday, August 13, reading at 4pm
Where: The Main Gallery, 1018 Main Street Redwood City CA 94063 Phone: (650) 701-1018
July 18 - Esther Kamkar Poetry Reading -
Intersection for the Arts
When: Tuesday, July 18, 7.30pm
Where: Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia Street
Mission District SF, Tel: (415) 626-2787, ext. 106
June 26 - Persis M. Karim and Esther Kamkar on KALW 91.7 FM
Station: KALW 91.7 FM - worldwide webcast.
Topic: Poetry readings, talk, call-ins.
When: Monday, June 26, 10am
June 26 - Esther Kamkar Poetry Reading - Cody's Books
When: Monday, June 26, 7.00pm.
Where: Cody's Books, 1730 Fourth Street in Berkeley,
Toll Free: 800-995-1180 or 510-559-9500
June 25 - Persis M. Karim & Esther Kamkar on the
KUSP Poetry Show with Dennis Morton and Mort Marcus
Station: KUSP
Topic: Poetry, anthology readings, talk.
When: Sunday, June 25, 8pm - 9pm.
June 22 - Esther Kamkar Poetry Reading - Kepler's Books
When: Thursday, June 22, 7.30pm.
Where: Kepler's Books & Magazines, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA, 94025. Tel: (650) 324-4321
June 21 - Esther Kamkar Poetry Reading - Capitola Book Café
When: Wednesday, June 21, 7.30pm.
Where: Capitola Book Café, 1475 41st Avenue Capitola,
CA 95010. Tel: 831-462-4415
June 15 - Esther Kamkar Poetry Reading - City Lights
When: Thursday, June 15, 7pm.
Where: City Lights Book Store, 261 Columbus Avenue @ Broadway (North Beach), San Francisco. (Map) Tel + 415.362.8193
Mid-May -- Anthology Release
Anthology to be printed and shipped Mid-May 2006:
"Let Me Tell You Where I've Been" - new writing by women of the Iranian diaspora. With 3 poems by Esther Kamkar
Book collaboration
Carmela Rizzuto and Esther Kamkar
Hand-made book - "Lost and Found Again", 2005
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Now Available - Esther Kamkar's
'Hum of Bees'
 "In 'the blue door of a poem', Esther Kamkar opens us to journeys close to home and wandering in the great expanse of the world. Kamkar's poems are threads that weave together a complex story of many cultures and perspectives; each poem has a simple elegance sweetened with the honey of sincerity. Hum of Bees will take you places and will linger with you a long while."
— Persis M. Karim, poet and editor: "Let Me Tell You Where I've Been: New Writing by Women of the Iranian Diaspora"
 "Esther Kamkar's poetry is like no other — exploring the experience of exile and discovery, longing and memory, and the healing that comes from the body's own songs. This volume is as enchanting as an angel's whispers and wise as a tree with deep roots."
— Peter Neil Carroll, poet: "Riverborne: A Mississippi Requiem"
"Esther Kamkar's voice reflects the sensuous depths of human experience. Kamkar's writing is rich in the texture of senses, the I and thou often blurred; she opens the way for us to keenly experience life in the here and now."
— Gretchen Leland, poet
Clicking the above 'BUY NOW' button will take you to Blurb.com where you can buy the book
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As recently as these past few weeks, voices in Iran seeking to express both their discontent and their dreams have been answered with violence.
Mountain View Reads Together is an annual, city-wide celebration of one book that takes place in November. The Mountain View Reads Together 2010 book is the critically acclaimed Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, which is set in Iran. 
the San Francisco Community Music Center's 