Ahmad Shamlu, who has been one of Iran's most popular poets for decades, was born in Tehran in 1925, a city he returned to after leaving school to begin his career as a journalist. His first book of poetry made him an overnight celebrity. He rebelled against the traditions of lyric poetry, disregarding the rules of rhyme and rhythm that had hitherto applied, but drawing poetry from the inner sound of words.
It was not only in the world of poetry, however, that Shamlu rebelled; because he protested against the occupation of Iran by the Allies in World War II, he had to go to prison for two years.
In 2000, Ahmad Shamlu died; he was unable to complete his last work, a conversational dictionary of everyday language.