Shiraz to Honor Goethe and Hafez

Iran is preparing to hold the West-Eastern Divan festival to commemorate the renowned literary figures, Goethe and Hafez.

A German delegation will arrive in the Iranian city of Shiraz in two days to participate in the event. Germany will hold a similar festival in August 2009 in the city of Weimar.

Headed by the event’s German artistic director, Klaus Gallas, the 35-member team will also visit the cities of Isfahan, Rey and Yazd as well as the Sa’ad Abad cultural complex and the historical sites of Persepolis and Pasargadae.

Hafez-Goethe memorial, Weimar, Germany
The event will also include lectures, Goethe and Hafez readings, exhibitions by contemporary Iranian artists, and traditional and pop music concerts.

Two German orchestras, led by Iranian conductors will perform during the inauguration and closing ceremonies of the event, Mehr News Agency cited Deutsche Welle.

According to Gallas, the event will be held annually in Weimar and a partner city in Iran or in the Arab world.

The West-Eastern Divan festival is named after an 1819 collection of poems by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, which was influenced by the works of the Persian poet, Hafez.

Goethe is considered one of the key figures of German literature and the Weimar Classicism movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Known for his beautiful lyrical poems, Hafez has greatly influenced numerous Persian and western writers and poets.