Niloufar TalebiAward-winning translator Niloufar Talebi was born in London to Iranian parents. She received a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Irvine, and an MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington College. She studied theater with Jean Shelton and Cyril Clayton and has produced and performed nationally. 

Niloufar founded The Translation Project in 2003 to bring contemporary Iranian literature to wide audiences with innovative book, theater and multimedia projects. Her translations have been anthologized and published in Two Lines, Poetry International, CIRCUMFERENCE, Agni on-line and Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and she is the guest editor of the Spring 2006 issue of Rattapallax.

She has presented at numerous venues including the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in NYC, The New School, The National Arts Club, St. Mark’s Poetry Project, Asia Society, the New York Public Library, the Levantine Center, Litquake SF, Brattleboro Literary Festival, Universities of California at Irvine and Berkeley, University of Iowa, SUNY, CUNY, California College of the Arts, ODC Theater, Theater Artaud, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Actor’s Theater and Intersection for the Arts.

She is the editor and translator of BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World (North Atlantic Books, August 2008). She also created 'Midnight Approaches', a DVD of short videos and ICARUS/RISE, a multimedia theatrical piece, both based on new Iranian Poetry.