Kaveh Akbar

Kaveh Akbar was born in Tehran, Iran, and his family immigrated to the United States when he was two years old. They moved frequently, and Akbar spent time in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Indiana. After getting a bachelor’s degree at Purdue and an MFA from Butler University, Akbar when on to get a PhD in creative writing from Florida State University. Soon afterwards, Akbar began publishing poetry, with collections like his chapbook Portrait of an Alcoholic receiving praise for the way they drew on his own experiences with addiction. His full-length poetry collections, Calling a Wolf a Wolf and Pilgrim Bell, established him as a leading contemporary poet. During the pandemic, Akbar began work on what would become his first novel, Martyr!, which was published in 2024 and listed in many publications as a book of the year. Akbar currently teaches at the University of Iowa, and he is married to fellow poet Paige Lewis.