Welcome

This is the website of the poet, novelist, critic and playwright Ali Alizadeh.

Ali’s latest book is the collection of poetry Ashes in the Air, published by University of Queensland Press in March 2011. It contains poems written during Ali’s travels in China, the Middle East and Europe, on themes ranging from parenthood to political violence, mortality to globalisation, philosophy to immigration. It was named as one of the best books of the year in The Australian.

He was a guest at the 2011 Melbourne and Brisbane writers festivals. His new play Medea of Baghdad was staged at La Mama Theatre in Melbourne from 31 August to 11 September 2011.

Ali is also the author of Iran: My Grandfather, a fusion of history, fiction and memoir (Transit Lounge, 2010), named as one of the best books of the year in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald and shortlisted for a 2011 NSW Premier’s Literary Award.

His other books include the novel The New Angel (Transit Lounge Publishing, 2008) and three books of poetry: Eyes in Times of War (Salt Publishing, 2006), Fifty Poems of Attar (with Kenneth Avery, re.press, 2007) and eliXir: a story in poetry (Grendon Press, 2002).

The themes of Ali’s writing include dissent, history and spirituality. His work has elicited strong responses, ranging from “eclectic, passionate and compelling” and “a talent to watch” to “headache provoking” and “a shame”. This is perhaps due to Ali’s treatment of controversial often political  discourses, and his interest in cross-genre literary forms.

Please use the Pages links on the right-hand side to read more about Ali and his writing.