In January, Kaveh Akbar’s novel “Martyr!” came out. The bestseller – his debut novel – made the New York Times “10 Best Books of 2024” list.
From 7-9 p.m. Jan. 28, Akbar will visit Indiana Landmarks to read from the story, written about a young Iranian man who, like him, goes on a journey exploring themes of addiction, the divine and the meaning of sacrifice. Tickets are free.
At the event, Akbar will speak with Aila Hoss, an Indianapolis-based attorney and professor and a proud Iranian-American.
Kaveh Akbar reading & conversation
🗓️ 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28
📍 Indiana Landmarks Great Hall, 1201 Central Ave.
🎟️ Free through Eventbrite
Akbar is an award-winning poet and author whose work has been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times and “Best American Poetry 2018.”
He went to Warsaw Community High School in northern Indiana, where an English teacher named Steve Henn was an early mentor. “Steve treating me like a real poet made me one. Everything I’ve done and do owes a profound debt of gratitude to his early kindnesses,” Akbar said in an interview with Lit Hub.
Akbar got his bachelor’s degree from Purdue University, his Master of Fine Arts from Butler University and his Ph.D. from Florida State University. He was a professor at Purdue University in 2017, and he is now a professor at the University of Iowa.
The Daily Iowan, the university’s student newspaper, asked Akbar in March: “Why do you write?”
“Being an addict in recovery, I’ve lost my privileges to all my favorite highs. I’m not allowed to do any of my favorite drugs anymore, but writing is the only exception,” he said. “I can get high as shit off writing. It sounds corny, but for real — if I write in the morning, all day I’ll be walking around like I’m floating.”
Q&A with the author
We played basketball Mad Libs with “Martyr!” author Kaveh Akbar
Akbar also talked about the Midwest’s “pathological politeness,” the Butler professor who helped him get sober and the awe and mystery of grace.
If you want to explore more of Akbar’s writing, you can read his two poetry collections – “Pilgrim Bell” and “Calling a Wolf a Wolf” – or his chapbook, “Portrait of the Alcoholic.” He also edited “The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 100 Poets on the Divine.”
Akbar has won Pushcart Prizes, a Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship and the Levis Reading Prize.
He founded Divedapper, where he interviewed other contemporary poets, and wrote a weekly Poetry RX column for The Paris Review, in which he shared poems in response to readers who wrote in.
Tomorrow Bookstore, Indiana Humanities and the Butler University MFA in Creative Writing Program are hosting Akbar’s visit to Indianapolis.
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