There is more that connects Kaveh Akbar and Kazim Ali, although both are poets and practicing Muslims. Both poets explore the relationship between poetry and prayer, examining the silence and breath in each lyric. Kaveh Akbar is the author of the chapbook Portrait of the Alcoholic and his debut full-length collection, Calling a Wolf a Wolf, will be published by Alice James Books in Fall 2017. He is a recipient of the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation and the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. Born in Tehran, Iran, Akbar is the Visiting Professor of Poetry at Purdue University.
Kazim Ali is a poet, essayist, fiction writer, and translator. His books include several volumes of poetry, including Sky Ward, and The Far Mosque, winner of Alice James Books' New England/New York Award, The Fortieth Day, and the cross-genre text Bright Felon: Autobiography and Cities. A new poetry book, Inquisition, will be published by Wesleyan in the spring of 2018. He has also published a translation of Water's Footfall by Sohrab Sepehri and (with Libby Murphy) L'amour by Marguerite Duras. His novels include Quinn's Passage named one of "The Best Books of 2005" by Chronogram magazine and The Disappearance of Seth, and his books of essays include Orange Alert: Essays on Poetry, Art and the Architecture of Silence, Fasting for Ramadan. He is also an associate professor of creative writing and comparative literature at Oberlin College.