Farewell to the 'Poet of Geraniums'; Ahmadreza Ahmadi Passes Away

Ahmadreza Ahmadi, a prominent Iranian poet, writer, and painter, bid farewell on July 10, 2023, to a generation that dreamt with his poetry. "One day, I will finally say goodbye to you in blue. I know one day you will ask me, does goodbye have a color? That too in blue. In response, I will only close my eyes." Those who knew Ahmadreza Ahmadi closely remember his humor and sweet speech, while lovers of culture and art recall him through his stories, paintings, and recitations. Ahmadreza Ahmadi was born on May 20, 1940, in Kerman. He began collaborating with the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in 1970 and played a significant role in producing music works and recording the voices of prominent Iranian poets on tape. In the 1960s, Ahmadreza Ahmadi, along with friends like Nader Ebrahimi and Mohammad Ali Sepanlou, founded the Torfeh group to protect the new wave of Persian poetry and storytelling. He narrated stories through poetry, creating a mysterious world similar to dreams for children. Ahmadi believed that humans are uplifted in the presence of art, even if they are sad. Throughout his life, Ahmadreza Ahmadi looked at the world with 'wonder and joy' and showed everything he saw to the readers of his works. He received several accolades for his contributions to children's literature, including the Bijan Jalali Award, the Bird Pencil Statue from the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, a nomination for the Astrid Lindgren Award, and being shortlisted as one of the five candidates for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2009. During his career, he seized every opportunity to express dissent; like many writers active in Iran, he despised censorship and saw a return to children's literature as a way to escape it—a language through which he could express his thoughts behind metaphors. Those who have lived with Ahmadreza Ahmadi's poetry know that he can only be sought and found in the lines of his poems. A poem by Ahmadreza Ahmadi, handwritten by the poet, was shown to him by his daughter, Mahour Ahmadi, in one of her Instagram posts, which featured a post by filmmaker Mohammad Reza Farzad sharing a poem from Ahmadreza Ahmadi's book 'The Good Time of Misfortunes.' The poem says: 'A city cries out, yes; a lonely dove reaches the old tower and says: no.' Ahmadreza Ahmadi was moved to tears in response and said: 'Finally, at the age of 83, I felt a pain.'