Hafez, the global poet, keeper of spinning planets in their places, dweller upon the threshold of taverns. 

Hafez lived in Shiraz at the same time as Chaucer lived in England.  His command of the intricate poetic form known as the “ghazal,”  within which he compressed, like open secrets, the elusive signs and concepts of God’s hands and God’s eyes, is one-of-a-kind, in terms of world literature.  There is also Hafez the Sufi saint.  Well, not a saint exactly, though there are plenty of them.  More like a “rend” which means a mystic libertine, denouncing insincerity while gripped with all the perplexities that bedevil us, the common people, for whom he has made oracles.  Oracles and intricate simplicities. For us.

Walker Brents III explores these aspects of the poet Hafez.

Catch Walker’s monthly talks streamed live in the moment on the Bird & Beckett YouTube channel or Facebook page.

If you’d like to hear him live in the shop, that’s certainly possible. Give us a call (415-586-3733) Thursday afternoon to let us know you’re coming, and tap on the window when you arrive. We’ll be happy to open the door to you and usher you into the half light of the bookshop. Bring some modest amount of cash, be it five dollars or twenty, to contribute, and bring something to sip if you like.