Kavih

Biography

Ni’matizada, Muhammad Riza (1934-1988), a poet from Bushehr, bearing the title Nima-yi Junub, son of Nurullah, a carpet tradesman. He was born in Bushehr and died on 9 March 1988. He developed an interest in poetry in his childhood. Having completed his secondary education at the Sa’adat High School in Bushehr, he studied at the Teachers’ Training College and embarked upon his teaching career in Chah Kutah, Jam, Riz, and Bandar-i Daylam. He published his first collection of poetry, Pas az Sukut, with the nom de plume M.N. Kava in 1955. He obtained his BA in English Language and Literature from the Higher Education College in Tehran in 1960. He had mastery in composing poetry in different forms, e.g. twin couplet (dubayti), ghazal, quatrain, chahar-para, long poetical compositions in Nima’i (modern) and classical meters. He was the first poet from the south of Iran who was acquainted with Nima Yushij’s poetical style and was inspired by it. A poet of renown from the 1950s to 1970s, he contributed numerous compositions to literary periodicals. He was active in the political arena as well and was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned by SAVAK. Two collections of poetry, Kuch and Fasl-i Khakistari, appeared posthumously. Manuchihr Atashi, another Bushehri poet states, ‘We were two twins, like one person in two sets of clothes. We were alone in taking up poetry in the modern style in Bushehr.’ The following lines are by him:

You are in my heart, still remote and boundless,

You are far from me, though you share the same nest with my heart.

The heart flutters to see you in boundless shores,

You are between the lips like a melody fluttering your wings.

Fasl-i Khakistar (12-13).