Creative Writing Program
Department of English
65-30 Kissena Blvd.
Flushing, NY 11367

718-997-4600

Unisphere photo by Rik Panganiban; other photos by Charles Martin

Professor Roger Sedarat

Klapper 704, 718-997-4713
sedarat@yahoo.com

Roger Sedarat is a poet and translator. His first collection of poetry, Dear Regime: Letters to the Islamic Republic (Ohio UP), won the 2007 Hollis Summers Prize. In addition to publishing articles on American poetry, Middle Eastern-American literature, and writing pedagogy, he has placed poems and translations in such journals as The New England Review, Atlanta Review, and Iranian.com. A recipient of scholarships to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and a St. Botolph Society Grant, he is Assistant Professor in the MFA program.

After receiving his BA at the University of Texas-Austin and an MA in English/Creative Writing at Queens College, he completed a PhD in English at Tufts University. His doctoral dissertation examines the figuration of New England history in the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens, and Robert Lowell. Much of his creative writing as an Iranian-American poet involves the connection of his Middle-Eastern background to the American literary tradition, adapting Persian themes and forms into English. His creative interests include using humor, post-modern performance, politics, and popular culture to transgress social norms and violate aesthetic expectations. He is currently working on a second collection of poetry based on the modern history of Iran, a full-length translation of the twentieth century Iranian poet Iraj Mirza, and a children’s book about nefarious dinosaurs.