The Aapricity Podcast Episode 7: Zohreh Abani, Founder of The Pars Center, a Persian Language and Culture School

by Maggie Cease

Zohreh moved to Michigan from Iran at the age of eighteen, and since then, has gone on to found the Pars Center, a Persian language and culture school dedicated to teaching the history, literature, and culture, of Iran. She has been running it for over 25 years in Ann Arbor.

​In this interview, we talk about challenges she faced when she first came to the US, what motivated her to found the Pars Center and to continue running it over all these years, other events she hosts, and we even get to hear a favorite poem of hers by 20th century Iranian poet Ahmad Shamloo, which she reads in both Farsi, the official language of Iran, and English. The poem is called In this Cul-de-Sac.

The other poets she mentions in the interview are Forough Farrokhzad and Rumi.

To find out more about The Pars Center, or to contact Zohreh, you can send her an email at [email protected].