Kaveh Akbar

Iran

About

Kaveh Akbar is an Iranian-American poet and novelist born in Tehran, Iran, in 1989. He immigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in the Midwest. Known for his lyrical intensity and philosophical curiosity, Akbar explores addiction, spirituality, identity, grief, and the search for meaning in everyday life. He first gained recognition for his poetry collections, including Calling a Wolf a Wolf (2017) and Pilgrim Bell (2021), which examine vulnerability, faith, and the struggle for self-understanding. His debut novel, Martyr! (2024), follows Cyrus Shams, a young Iranian-American man grappling with addiction, family history, and mortality as he searches for a meaningful way to understand his life. The novel explores the intersections of migration, artistic expression, and cultural memory while questioning how people create meaning from suffering. Akbar’s work is celebrated for its emotional candour, inventive language, and ability to connect intimate personal struggles with larger questions of existence and belonging.

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Martyr!

Martyr! follows Cyrus Shams, a young Iranian American poet struggling with addiction, grief, and questions about the meaning of life. Having grown up in the United States after his Iranian mother died when her passenger plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf, Cyrus feels disconnected from his heritage and uncertain about his place in the world. Newly sober, he becomes fascinated by martyrs throughout history, hoping to understand what makes a life meaningful and a death significant. His search leads him to investigate his family’s past, including the experiences of an uncle who comforted dying soldiers during the Iran–Iraq War. When Cyrus discovers the story of an ailing artist whose final days are being transformed into a work of art at the Brooklyn Museum, he begins to uncover unexpected connections to his own history. Blending humour, poetry, and philosophical reflection, Akbar’s novel explores cultural inheritance, addiction, faith, and the human desire to find purpose amid suffering and loss.

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