Bewildering Stories welcomes...

Farideh Hassanzadeh

Farideh is an Iranian poet and freelance journalist. She has published her own poetry very extensively as well as a large number of translations of poems from other languages.

“Pen Pals” celebrates in a modern style the correspondence between the novelist Honoré de Balzac and Eveline Hanska, in which they got to know each other very well. The poem ought to strike a familiar note with today’s users of the Internet, who may realize that they are sending as much information about their own personalities as they receive from others.

In fact, mid-20th century literary historians bemoaned the telephone, because it had replaced the correspondence that enlivened so much of 18th- and 19th-century literature. If those historians had known what the future held in store for them, they might have been more careful what they wished for!

Coincidentally, Harrison Kim’s Just Inside the Frame mirrors the psychological effect of correspondence by depicting two characters who discover that they are chronic — even compulsive — liars. But that, too, is part of their personalities!

Farideh Hassanzadeh’s bio sketch can be found here.

Welcome to Bewildering Stories, Farideh. We hope to hear from you again soon and often!