Croatian Drago Štambuk’s trilingual poetry unites cultures
The gallery of Saless Publications, one of Iran’s most respected publishing houses, hosted a literary gathering for the launch of ‘Damavand / Wounded by Flowers,’ a trilingual collection of poems by Croatian poet and ambassador Drago Štambuk.
The volume, translated into Persian by Ebtehaj Navaei, Mahmood Dehaghi, and Mohammad Javadi, gathers selections from three of Štambuk’s earlier works published in Iran, alongside an exclusive bilingual interview with the author.
Opening the event, Peyman Sarmasti, the host, called the gathering “a meeting of words, art, and thought in peaceful harmony,” describing Štambuk as “a poet and philosopher who transcends worlds and reminds us that beauty in language brings hearts closer than distance can separate.”
Writer Hossein Khatibi, who co-edited the selection with Siavash Soufinejad, said the launch symbolized “a journey of words that connects continents and civilizations,” calling the collection “a map of the soul in motion.”
He highlighted Štambuk’s dual life as a poet and diplomat whose travels reveal “the essence of humanity through love, languages, and culture.”
Mahmood Dehaghi, university professor and one of the translators, praised the poet’s fusion of mythic imagery with rhythmic musicality, describing his work as “a blend of classical and modernist sensibilities marked by deep compassion for humankind.” Štambuk, he noted, “sees the world as a blurred mirror, impenetrable yet full of reflected truths that only poetry can reveal.”
Štambuk and Khatibi read poems in Croatian, English, and Persian, including ‘Damavand,’ ‘1918,’ ‘Wrist,’ ‘Nordwind,’ ‘Black Wave,’ and ‘Zefir’, before an audience of about 150 poetry enthusiasts. The event drew nearly 20 ambassadors, Masoud Habibi, Deputy Minister of Culture and Student Affairs at the Iranian Ministry of Health, and renowned writer-director Masoud Forootan, among other public figures and journalists.