Kaveh Akbar is an award-winning poet and essayist whose work explores identity, language, and spirituality with luminous intensity. Born in Tehran, Iran, and raised in the United States, Akbar’s writing often weaves together the complexities of immigration, faith, and self-discovery. He is the acclaimed author of poetry collections *Pilgrim Bell* and *Calling a Wolf a Wolf*, lauded for their emotional honesty and formal innovation. Akbar’s poems, celebrated for their lyricism and searching insight, have appeared in *The New Yorker*, *The New York Times*, and *The Paris Review*. A recipient of honors including the Levis Reading Prize and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Foundation, Akbar also serves as the poetry editor at *The Nation* and teaches at the University of Iowa’s MFA program. With profound empathy and dazzling craft, Kaveh Akbar has become a vital voice in contemporary American literature.