Join translator and performance artist Haleh Liza Gafori for a deep dive into the poetry of Rumi. In this interactive workshop, we’ll hear Gafori recite translations from her highly acclaimed books Gold and Water, revealing how urgently and tenderly Rumi speaks to us in these times. Gafori will share dashes of the original Persian text, unpack recurring words that have no one-to-one equivalent in English, and offer an array of poems which show the range of Rumi’s concerns, as he addresses both nightingales and war-mongers, the open heart and the imperious ego, exploring the alchemy of human consciousness as well as the power of silence. Through dazzling images and leaping progressions of thought, he points us toward an ethic of love, care, and reverence. His poems are aesthetic masterpieces that are meant to illuminate and liberate. Rumi above all is a friend to humanity. In this workshop we’ll commune with his words on the beautiful grounds of Mesa Refuge, and will be invited to write our own work in response to excerpts.

Sliding scale $50-150 for registrants over 30-years-old. $25 for registrants 30 years and younger. Please reach out to nkansky@mesarefuge.org if the cost of the workshop is prohibitive to your participation.

Limited to 12 participants. Two of these spots will be reserved for participants 30 years and younger.

Cancellation Policy: In order to receive a partial refund (a $15 admin fee is deducted from your payment), we require 7 days notice. 

Haleh Liza Gafori is a New York City-born translator, performance artist, writer, and educator of Iranian descent. Her two volumes of translationsof poetry by the 13th century sage Rumi, entitled Gold and Water, have been incorporated in curricula of universities across the country. Haleh was a 2026 and 2024 MacDowell fellow, and a 2023 recipient of the New York State Council on the Arts grant. She created a musical and cross-media performance based on the book and has presented her work, via performances and lectures and workshops, at institutions such as Lincoln Center, Stanford University, the Academy of American Poets, and Sarah Lawrence College. Her work has been published by Columbia University Press, Harvard Review, World Literature Today, Lit Hub, Paris Review, and others. She teaches in the MFA writing program at St Joseph’s University.