Co-presented by Sufi Poets Series and Small World Music.

The first installation of the Sufi Poets Series 2020 season is Pànāh (پناه), meaning "Shelter" in Farsi, a word suggested by one of our featured poets, Khashayar Mohammadi. We hope that this event will allow audience members to take shelter and comfort in poetry, story, and music. Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Canada Strong Campaign, a campaign that is raising funds for the families of the victims of Flight 752.

Pànāh (پناه) will feature musical interpretations, poetic recitations and storytelling from established and emerging performers and musicians with ancestral roots in Iran.

Pànāh (پناه) will feature poets Sahar Golshan, Khashayar Mohammadi, Bänoo Zan, storyteller Ariel Balevi, as well as the An Ensemble: Bamdad Fotouhi (percussion), Nima Safaei (santour) and Kouhyar Babaeian (tar). We will also be joined by Zohreh Shahbazy (percussion) and Kianoush Khalilian (ney).


The mandate of Sufi Poets Series is to invite performers and artists from a wide range of backgrounds to collaborate and breathe life into ancient and original poetry, while celebrating pluralism and practising innovation.

Sufi Poets Series has featured the poetry of Baba Bulleh Shah, Rabia Al Adawiyya and many other Sufi poets in previous incarnations of the series. We look to continue the tradition of reviving Sufi poets as we enter a new decade.


Join the Facebook event here.