Shams Langaroudi: Art is One of the Slowest-Yielding Works in the World / Ahmad Poury: Shams Langaroudi Has High Self-Confidence

According to Iran’s Book News Agency (IBNA), Shams Langaroudi began his speech by thanking all those who contributed to his memorial ceremony, saying: “Art is one of the slowest-yielding works in the world. Someone who is an employee or has an administrative job works for certain hours during the month and gets paid at the end of the month, but artistic work is full-time, and perhaps years pass without any return for the individual.”

He added: “When I am in such gatherings, more than anything, I am happy to be among people who are of the same heart. In my opinion, the best result of artistic work is finding people who are like-minded. These sympathies are very valuable because one cannot do artistic work or write poetry in a vacuum. It is you who listen to the poets’ poems and inspire them with your empathy.”

Shams Langaroudi continued his speech by thanking all those who have empathized with his poetry and read several poems for those present at the ceremony.

Ahmad Poury: Shams’s poetry is popular

Ahmad Poury, a writer and translator who has been friends with Shams Langaroudi for 50 years, said: “One of the most popular poets of recent decades in Iran is Shams Langaroudi, whose free verse poems have been warmly welcomed by various groups of literature enthusiasts.”

He added: “If you ask lovers of Iranian poetry, culture, and art to name five of their favorite poets, you will undoubtedly arrive at a five-person list where Shams Langaroudi also has a place.”

This translator, referring to Shams Langaroudi’s efforts in the field of culture and art, said: “I have truly witnessed in these 50 years how honestly Shams has strived in the realm of poetry and art, and it is because of this honest behavior and efforts that many people today love him and his poetry and art.”

Poury continued: “Without exaggeration, I must say that Shams Langaroudi is a very avid reader, and in these 50 years, whenever I have wanted to translate a book, I have consulted him and always benefited from his opinions. Every time I imagined I was translating the poem of an unknown poet and talked to Shams about him, he would suddenly say, ‘Yes, I know this poet, and a book by this poet was published in such and such an issue of a journal and in such and such a year by which publisher.'”

According to Ahmad Poury, Shams Langaroudi has a lot of self-confidence, and if you ask him why he acted in a film or sang, he explicitly says; “I liked it, and I know I did a good job.” He trusts himself, and this is very valuable; throughout his life, he has done whatever he wanted.

He further referred to Shams Langaroudi’s humor, saying: “He is a very humorous person and poet, and this spirit has been clearly manifested in his life and art. Shams is very meticulous in choosing words, and this meticulousness makes his poetry beautiful.”

Poury continued: “Shams is a tireless person and believes that if someone is going to do something, they should do it in the best possible way. When he was busy writing the book ‘Analytical History of New Poetry,’ I truly witnessed his efforts firsthand, and he found many of his sources from under rocks to write this research work. I remember once he called me and asked, ‘Do you know anyone in Tabriz?’ I want a few book titles that are available in a library in Tabriz; I want to see these books up close. I said yes, I do. At that time, facilities had not yet advanced so that one could take pictures of the pages of a book in a few minutes and send them to another person via phone. He had to go in person.”

He added: “I was still thinking about how to help Shams access these books when my phone rang, and Shams said that he himself had gone to Tabriz to see and study these books. That’s how Shams wrote the book ‘Analytical History of New Poetry,’ and his work is truly valuable.” Poury then read several poems from the collection ‘Gardener of Hell’ for those present.

Davood Heidari: The main theme of Shams’s works is love

Davood Heidari, who was the host of the program, said in his speech: “Langaroud is one of the cities in Iran that has been written about in many foreign travelogues; in this small city, many great poets and writers have been born and raised, among whom Shams Langaroudi and Mahmoud Payandeh are well-known cultural figures of this region.” He added: “Love for poetry, culture, and art has taken root in Shams Langaroudi’s soul since childhood, and in Shams’s works, it can be clearly observed that he is searching for something lost to lead him to his intended destination.”

Heidari added: “The main theme of Shams’s poems is love, and his poems are among the best of our contemporary poems, and it is good that we have all gathered to appreciate a poet who, throughout his life, has enriched the ancient tree of culture and art of this land with his works.”

Sardar Sarmast was one of the artists who performed music at this ceremony and spoke about how he became acquainted with Shams Langaroudi and his poetry: “For years, I have had a friend who always invites me to his house to watch movies together, but from the moment the movie starts, he talks so much that we don’t understand anything from the film, and coincidentally, his conversations have nothing to do with the movie, but through him, I have become acquainted with many films and have sat down at my leisure and watched these films.”

He added: “Once we watched one of the films in which Shams Langaroudi had acted, I asked him who he was, and he said he was Shams Langaroudi and a poet. This was the only thing he said that was related to the film, and through this film, I became acquainted with Shams Langaroudi, and I am sorry that I became acquainted with this poet so late, and I truly envy those who have been familiar with Shams’s poetry for years.”

Bahaeddin Morshedi also said in a short speech: “25 years have passed since my acquaintance and friendship with Shams Langaroudi, and I am very proud of this friendship. Shams Langaroudi is one of our first-rate poets, and I have learned a lot from him in life and professional work.”

He added: “He is a fair and calm person and always believes that if you are going to do something, you should do it correctly. I remember once one of his poetry books, 7,100 copies of which were pre-sold, and he spent a full day signing all these books for his audience and did not feel tired at all because each and every one of his audience was important to him.”

According to Reza Razaghghandi, who is the curator of this event and the exhibition ‘Shams in Soufi House’; an exhibition will also be inaugurated on Friday, November 21st, at Soufi Art House, to mark the seventy-seventh birthday of Shams Langaroudi, with the presence of Shams Langaroudi.

In this exhibition; works by Linda Azad, Sara Azmoodeh, Fariba Aghayan, Hossein Esmaeili, Anahita Abutorabi, Asef Ebrahimi, Sepideh Ashrafi, Sara Eskandari, Ebrahim Barafrazi, Hooman Bayat, Alireza Bidari, Saeid Panahzadeh, Saye Saghafi, Fatemeh Haghdar, Mohsen Hejazi, Davood Heidari, Alireza Rouholamin, Reza Razaghghandi, Mojtaba Rostami, Maryam Zahmatkesh, Abbas Seifabadi, Amir Hossein Sharifian, Ali Soufi, Marjan Askari, Katayoun Asalian, Mohsen Farahani, Azarmidokht Fattahi, Golnaz Gaeini, Ali Gorji, Eliana Shams, Mahdis Mehrjou, Nasrin Hadian, Hourieh Hashemi, and Shahrouz Yarahmadi will be displayed. This exhibition will continue until December 3rd.

The memorial ceremony for Shams Langaroudi was organized by Reza Razaghghandi and Soufi Art House, and several music groups performed at this ceremony. Soufi Art House is located at No. 2, Khorsand Alley, Razi Street, Neauphle-le-Château Street.