Nader Rahimi's 'The Scarlet Stone and other Selected Poems' is the first ever translation of Siavash Kasrai's poetry. A seminal figure in Persian literature, Kasrai's epic poetry toils with the turbulent political landscape of Iran. The Scarlett Stone is complex in how Kasrai confronts the failure of his own communist ideology and expands this on a broader scale, after having witnessed the events following the upending of the Shah regime in 1979, which led to the rise of the current Islamic regime. Rahimi's translation includes a complete translation of 'The Scarlett Stone', ten other poems such as 'Wish', and finally, a partially selected translation of 'Arash the Archer'. In translating Kasrai's lyrical yet searing poetry, Rahimi opens up a world of rich language, allegory, and most importantly, hope, previously unexplored by the English speaker.
