Shab-e She’r Poetry March 2024 Report

Shab-e She’r (Poetry Night) on March 27th, 2024, was a celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

We were in the Living Room at the Tranzac Club, Toronto.

We had an English-Persian Haft Seen with the following items: Hyacinth (sonbol), cyclamen, sumac, garlic (sier), apple (sieb), saffron, and cinnamon. We also had seven candles in seven different colours to represent the diversity of people who celebrate Nowruz and the Spring Equinox in different traditions. We had a mirror and a book of poetry (the divan of Hafez). Sepideh also brought flowers which we added to the table.

We heard words in Arabic, Persian, Gaelic, Tagalog, and, of course, English.

Our features Joshua Chris Bouchard and Hanan Hazime offered compelling sets.

We also had eighteen open mic’ers:

1.???? Kate Rogers

2.???? Sepideh Shomali

3.???? Norman Allan

4.???? Amna Alvi

5.???? Ethelrida Zabala-laxa

6.???? Mārta Ziemelis

7.???? Diana Robinson

8.???? Sam Cheuk

9.???? Simi

10. Payton Brien

11. Alice Wolf

12. Ted Landrum

13. Sakshi

14. Shae Yusuf Stamp?

15. Margaret Christakos

16. Daniyal

17. Freygl

18. Andy Lee

And, I read a poem at the end.

Thanks an ocean to our features for their wonderful poetry and also for creating community. Thanks to everyone who spread the word and invited people. Thanks to our audience for joining to support poetry, diversity, and courage.

Much love to the Shab-e She’r team for their dedication and hard work: Mārta Ziemelis, Man Ma, Roxana Khoshravesh, and Pouria Saffaran.

Our next event in on April 24th, and we are celebrating a significant milestone: our 100th event. April is also the poetry month.

Join us and spread the word: https://fb.me/e/7raAhGNQ7

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B?noo Zan

Shab-e She’r Founder