Coleman Barks: Difference between revisions

| image = Coleman Barks 2004.jpg

| caption = Barks in 2004

| website = {{url|https://www.colemanbarks.com/}}

[[File:Coleman Barks reading.jpg|240px|thumb|Barks reading at the Festival of Silence, Esvika, [[Asker]], Norway, June 25, 2011]]

'''Coleman Barks''' (born April 23, 1937) is an American [[poet]], and former literature faculty member at the [[University of Georgia]]. Although he neither speaks nor reads [[Persian language|Persian]],<ref name=":1">{{cite book |first=Coleman |last=Barks |title=The Essential Rumi: New Expanded Edition |publisher=Harper Collins Publishers |year=2004 |quote=On the more literal level, the texts I work from to produce these poems are unpublished translations done by John Moyne, Emeritus Head of Linguistics at the City University of New York, and the following translations by Reynold Nicholson and A. J. Arberry, the famous Cambridge Islamicists... |page=365}}</ref> he is a popular [[interpreter]] of [[Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi|Rumi]], rewriting the poems based on other [[English language|English]] translations.<ref name=":1"/>

Barks is a native of [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]]. He attended the [[Baylor School]], then the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|University of North Carolina]] and the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Coleman Barks |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/coleman-barks-b-1937/ |access-date=2022-05-15 |website=New Georgia Encyclopedia |language=en-US}}</ref>

Barks was a student of the Sufi [[Sheikh (Sufism)|Shaykh]] [[Bawa Muhaiyaddeen]].<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Andrew |last=Lawler |url=https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/382/walking-around-in-the-heart/ |title=Walking Around In The Heart Coleman Barks On Rumi, Sensuality, And The Path With No Name |magazine=[[The Sun (magazine)|The Sun]] |date=October 2007 |access-date=2022-06-05}}</ref>

Barks makes frequent international appearances and is well known throughout the [[Middle East]]. Barks' work has contributed to an extremely strong following of Rumi in the English-speaking world.<ref>{{cite web |first=Steve |last=Holgate |url=http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/in1/wwwhspmayjune9.html |title=Persian Poet Conquers America |website=usembassy.state.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070622114625/http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/in1/wwwhspmayjune9.html |archive-date=2007-06-22 }}</ref> Due to his work, the ideas of [[Sufism]] have crossed many cultural boundaries over the past few decades. Barks received an honorary doctorate from [[University of Tehran]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff writer |url=https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/118392/University-of-Tehran-grants-honorary-doctorate-to-Coleman-Barks |title=University of Tehran grants honorary doctorate to Coleman Barks |date=May 18, 2006 |newspaper=Tehran Times |access-date=2022-06-05}}</ref>

He has also read his original [[poetry]] at the [[Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival]]. In March 2009, Barks was inducted into the Georgia Writers' Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://georgiawritershalloffame.org/honorees/coleman-barks |title=Hall of Fame Honorees: Coleman Barks |website=Georgia Writers Hall of Fame |publisher=University of Georgia |access-date=2022-06-05}}</ref>

===Rumi interpretations===

Barks has published several volumes of his interpretations of Rumi's poetry since 1976, including ''The Hand of Poetry, Five Mystic Poets of Persia'' in 1993, ''The Essential Rumi'' in 1995, ''The Book of Love'' in 2003 and ''A Year with Rumi'' in 2006.{{cn|date=June 2022}}

===Original poetry===

Barks has published several volumes of his own poetry, including ''Gourd Seed'', "Quickly Aging Here", ''Tentmaking'', and, in 2001, ''Granddaughter Poems'', a collection of his poetry about his granddaughter, Briny Barks, with illustrations by Briny. Harper published his first book of poetry, ''The Juice'', in 1972.{{cn|date=June 2022}}

=== Other credits ===

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;"

! scope="col" |Year

! scope="col" |Song

! scope="col" |Artist

! scope="col" |Album

! scope="col" |Role

|-

|2015

|"Kaleidoscope"

|[[Coldplay]]

|''[[A Head Full of Dreams]]''

|Vocals (Interpretation of [[Rumi]]'s "The Guest House"

|-

|2022

|"Across the Oceans"

|[[Mamak Khadem]]

|''Remembrance''

|Vocals (Rumi interpretation)

|}

* {{cite AV media |author=CBC Radio |date=September 9, 2007 |title=Tapestry@25: Rumi: Poet Laureate of the Planet Earth |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/tapestry-25-rumi-poet-laureate-of-the-planet-earth-1.5448041 |publisher=CBC Radio Canada |type=audio}} Audio interview with Coleman Barks and Andrew Harvey, by Mary Hynes of ''Tapestry''.

*{{cite encyclopedia |first1=Hugh |last1=Ruppersburg |first2=Brian C. |last2=Ferguson-Avery |date=March 18, 2019 |title=Coleman Barks |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/coleman-barks-b-1937/ |encyclopedia=New Georgia Encyclopedia |access-date=2022-03-07}}

* {{official|https://www.colemanbarks.com/}}

[[Category:American Sufis]]

[[Category:American Iranologists]]

[[Category:Writers from Chattanooga, Tennessee]]