The Poets and The Assassin

In celebration of Woman’s history Month SPACE Gallery and USM’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, Maine Humanities Council, and Bates College present The Poets and The Assassin, a historic and contemporary insight into the plight of women in Iran, a society shrouded in mystery, by challenging our assumption about a land that was once home to the rich Persian civilization.  Iranian women, covered under the traditional chador, the portable walls that segregates them from the public, unseen but seeing, anonymous but restless, and silenced but eloquent, have continued their fight for gender equity. The play portrays the Iranian women’s struggle against religious and cultural tyranny while countering stereotypes about Muslim women. A myth-buster, the play unveils the complex lives of Iranian women caught in the battle of traditionalism and modernity while challenging our assumption about them.  

The Poets and The Assassin was written by Reza Jalali.  Mr. Jalali is a writer, educator, and Muslim scholar who has lived in Maine since 1985. Jalali has written the Foreword to New Mainers (©2009, Tilbury House, Publishers) a book on immigrant’s experiences in Maine. His children’s book, Moon Watchers, published by Tilbury House, Publishers, has received a Skipping Stones Honor Award for Multicultural Book. Jalali’s short story collection, Homesick Mosque and Other Stories was published in 2013. He has taught at the Bangor Theological Seminary and the University of Southern Maine as an adjunct faculty. He coordinates the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs at USM. The Poets and the Assassin has been staged at Bates, Bowdoin College, University of Southern Maine, and University of New England in recent years.