Coleman Barks

Coleman Barks (born 1937) is an American poet. Although he neither speaks nor reads Persian, he is nonetheless renowned as a translator of Rumi and other mystic poets of Persia.

Biographical notes

Barks is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He attended the University of North Carolina and the University of California, Berkeley. Barks taught literature at the University of Georgia for three decades. He currently lives in Athens, Georgia, where he translates Rumi and composes poetry of his own.

Barks makes frequent international appearances and is well-known throughout the Middle East. Barks's work has contributed to an extremely strong following of Rumi in the English-speaking world. Due to his work, the ideas of Sufism have crossed many cultural boundaries over the past few decades. Coleman Barks received an honorary doctorate from Tehran University in 2006.

He has also read his original poetry at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival.

Rumi translations

Barks has published several volumes of Rumi's poetry since 1976, including The Hand of Poetry, Five Mystic Poets of Persia in 1993, The Essential Rumi in 1995 and The Book of Love in 2003.

Barks does not speak Persian, but bases his translations entirely on other English translations of Rumi. This includes translations by John Moyne. In addition, while the original Persian poetry of Rumi is heavily rhymed and metered, Barks has used primarily free verse. In some instances, he will also mix lines and metaphores from different poems into one 'translation'. This has led some to criticize Barks' works as essentially original creations, while others laud his efforts at providing the essence of Rumi's poetry in an accessible format.

Original Poetry

Barks has published several volumes of his own poetry, including Gourd Seed, Tentmaking, and, in 2001, Granddaughter Poems, a collection of Coleman's poetry about his granddaughter, Briny Barks, with illustrations by Briny.

Quotes

Iran is my first home-land. (2006)

The only credential I have for working on Rumi's poetry is my meeting with [my Sri Lankan guru], Bawa Muhaiyadeen. That relationship is the only access I have to what is going on in Rumi's poetry.

See also

• Persian poetry
• Sufism

References

External links

• Official Web Site
• Interview with Coleman Barks for Guernica Magazine (guernicamag.com)
• Four new translations of Rumi by Barks
• New Georgia Encyclopedia entry on Coleman Barks
• Audio Interview with Coleman Barks discussing the "Soul of Rumi" - includes transcript
• Bark's bio on The Zip Book