Hirshfield Reading

Rumi at 800: A Sufi Celebration Saturday, October 27. 11 am-9 pm Freer Gallery Join us for a day of music, poetry, special tours, and Persian and Turkish food celebrating the eight-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the poet and mystic Mevlana Jalal-ad-Din Rumi, born in 1207. Rumi inspired the founding of the Whirling Dervishes and remains one of the world's best-selling authors in any language. The day's events conclude with a reading by award-winning poet Jane Hirshfield. Poetry Reading: Jane Hirshfield 7:30 pm, Meyer Auditorium In this finale to our daylong Rumi celebration, Jane Hirshfield reads from Rumi's work as well as her own poetry. Hirshfields poetry has appeared in such publications as the The New Yorker, The Times Literary Supplement as well as in two of Bill Moyers PBS television specials. In fall 2004 The Academy of American Poets awarded Hirshfield the 70th Academy Fellowship for her distinguished poetic achievement, an honor formerly held by such poets as Robert Frost and Elizabeth Bishop. Don't miss one of today's leading poets as she shares her deep appreciation of Rumi's spirit and legacy.