Fifteen Eighty Four

Congratulations to Cambridge Professor Christine van Ruymbeke, winner of the World Prize for the Book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Ruymbeke will travel to Tehran to receive official gold prize coins in a ceremony with President Ahmedinejad himself.

Van Ruymbeke’s study of medieval Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi examines this difficult poet’s incorporation of the sciences into his refined verse, specifically, those on trees and fruits. She then compares them to Persian scientific works over several centuries, providing a better understanding of nature imagery in the work of a seminal Persian poet, as well as a useful insight into the breadth and depth of the education of medieval poets and their readers.

Living in the US, where we receive reports of Iranian uranium enrichment and missile tests, it’s very interesting to see this kind of scholarly engagement, both by our authors and by the Iranian government.