Kaveh Akbar

Kaveh Akbar (born 1989) has moved from the poetry world to a broader literary prominence with a speed that reflects both genuine talent and the hunger for voices that can speak across cultural divides with emotional authority. His poetry — about addiction, Iranian identity, God, the body, and the English language’s capacity and failure to hold immigrant experience — has earned him comparison to poets decades his senior, and his debut novel Martyr! (2024) demonstrated that his gifts extend far beyond verse. He was named the twenty-fifth United States Poet Laureate in 2024.

Life and Career

Akbar was born in Tehran, Iran, and moved to the United States with his family as a child, growing up in the Midwest. He has spoken openly about his alcoholism and recovery, which are central subjects of his first poetry collection. He studied at Purdue University and earned his MFA at Butler University. He has taught at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Purdue, and other institutions.

Before his first book appeared, Akbar was already a significant presence in the poetry world through Divedapper, an interview series he created that featured conversations with major and emerging poets. The project demonstrated his intellectual generosity and his deep engagement with contemporary poetry as a community, not just a practice.

Calling a Wolf a Wolf (2017, Alice James Books) was his first full collection and an immediate critical success. The poems address addiction with a metaphysical intensity that recalls Gerard Manley Hopkins and Rumi: the craving for alcohol becomes a craving for God, the body’s dissolution becomes a spiritual crisis, the recovery process becomes a reimagining of selfhood. The language is dense, allusive, and physically vivid.

Pilgrim Bell (2021, Graywolf Press) deepened and extended these concerns, incorporating more explicitly Iranian material — the revolution, exile, the loss of a first language — alongside the addiction narratives. The collection won the Poetry Foundation’s Pegasus Award.

Martyr! and U.S. Poet Laureate

Martyr! (2024, Knopf) was Akbar’s debut novel and arrived as one of the most anticipated literary debuts in years. The novel follows Cyrus Shams, a young Iranian-American poet and recovering addict obsessed with meaningful death (martyrdom), as he grapples with the legacy of his mother’s death on Iran Air Flight 655 (shot down by the USS Vincennes in 1988). The novel is funny, structurally inventive, intellectually ambitious, and emotionally devastating — a genuine literary event.

His appointment as U.S. Poet Laureate in 2024 made him the youngest person to hold the position and the first Iranian-American.

Key Works

• Calling a Wolf a Wolf (2017)
• Pilgrim Bell (2021)
• Martyr! (2024)

Collecting Akbar

Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Alice James Books, 2017) is the key poetry collectible — a small-press debut with a limited print run. Signed first editions bring $75–$300 and rising. Pilgrim Bell (Graywolf, 2021) signed is $40–$100. Martyr! (Knopf, 2024) first edition signed is $30–$75 and widely available currently, but likely to appreciate significantly given the Poet Laureate appointment and critical reception. Alice James Books editions are inherently scarce. Akbar signs generously at events. His career trajectory — Poet Laureate at thirty-five, acclaimed novelist, major prizes — suggests all first editions will appreciate.