Javad Mojabi (Persian, born 14 October 1939 in Qazvin, Iran) is an Iranian poet, writer, researcher, and literary and art critic. Mojabi is one of Iran’s most prominent modern writers and poets, and has published over 50 literary works in various forms. He has also written hundreds of critical works and essays on art and culture in journals and magazines. He began writing poetry in the 1960s, along with short story writing and research on modern painting in Iran.
A well-known satirist, the poet is close to Nima in style but mostly inclined to Shamlou in blank verse. Mostly focusing on social themes, Mojabi is a poet of philosophy and thought, which he sweetens with a blend of satire. He employs the meter but omits it when it prevents him from expressing his thoughts. He has a daughter, Poupak, on whom he bases some of his works. He has previously criticised the censorship process in Iran.
Javad Mojabi was born in Qazvin in 1939, in a neighbourhood that was commonly known by his family name, Mojabi. Due to his father’s employment, Mojabi spent his early years living in Alamut, but completed his final years of schooling in Qazvin. In 1958, he was accepted to the University of Tehran to study Law. His brother Hossein, who was a painter died in 1963, aged just 19. Following his bachelor’s degree, Mojabi went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Economics.
For 19 years he worked for the Ministry of Justice, before being appointed as a cultural expert at the Ministry of Culture and the Arts. In parallel, he worked as a professional journalist, and served as cultural editor at Ettela’at newspaper between 1968 and 1978. Later, he was involved with literary magazines including Ferdowsi, Jahan-e Noh, Khooshe, Adineh and Donya-e Sokhan for which he served as editor. In early 1978, along with his colleagues at Kayhan and Ayandegan – including Amid Naeini, Mehdi Sahabi, Firouz Gouran, Sirous Alinejad and Mohammad Ghaed – he formed the Foundation for Independent Journalists. This group ceased functioning in 1979 following the Iranian revolution.
His published writings include over fifty works, consisting of eight collections of poetry, four collections of short stories, nine novels, several plays and films, and a children’s stories and satirical books and several biographical works on writers and poets on Iran’s literary scene. In addition to publishing poems and novels and stories, his work over the last fifty years has focused on the visual arts, including modernism over six volumes, and analysis on the life and works of painters and sculptors.
He is married to Nastin, and has two children Poupak and Hossein.
