Mahmud Kianush, Iranian poet, writer, literary critic, and translator, was born in Meshed, Iran in 1934. He studied at the Teachers Training College and Tehran University and has a BA in English language and literature.
He published his first poems and short stories at the age of 16, while still in secondary school. So far, he has published 12 books of poetry, 9 books of short stories and novels, 12 books of poems and stories for children, several books of literary criticism, and more than 20 books of translations including works by John Steinbeck, D.H. Lawrence, Eugene O' Neill, Aime Cesaire, Samuel Beckett, Athol Fugard, Par Lagerkvist, Federico Garcia Lorca and....
He was editor-in-chief of the two leading Persian literary monthly magazines, Sokhan (Words), and Sadaf (Mother-of-Pearl). He also contributed, as writer and editor, to 5 bi-weekly magazines for children, teachers and parents, published by the Ministry of Education in Iran.
After eight years of writing poetry for children, he explained the principles that he had discovered and invented in a book entitled Children's Poetry in Iran, published by Agha publications, Tehran, 1973. As a result of this work, he became known as the founder of children's poetry in Iran.
He was a teacher for 5 years and then worked in the civil service until 1974, when he asked for early retirement. A year later he moved to England with his wife and children. For over 20 years he has been working in the Persian section of the BBC as a writer and producer. Among other things, he has written and broadcast more than 500 pieces of satirical poetry and prose.
His anthology of Modern Persian Poetry was published by The Rockingham Press, and was funded by the Arts Council of England. His book Persian Poetry in Exile, Since the 1979 Revolution, A Critical Study (in Persian), was published by the Persian Poetry Society, London.
His latest published works in Persian include, Suddenly Man and His Earth, (a long poem), In a Slippery Bowl, (a collection of Short Stories), Horizons of Self, (a philosophical novel), and Woman and Love, in the World of Sadeq Hedayat, (a critical analysis).
Among his works ready for publication are two collections of poems in English, "The Fifth and the Last Nail", and "Of Birds and Men".
The Persian version of Of Birds and Men was recently published.
Many of these books are available for sale from the Art Arena on-line Bookstore.