Sholeh Wolpé

Sholeh Wolpé is an Iranian American poet, playwright, and librettist. Her literary work includes seven collections of poetry, several plays, five books of translations, and three anthologies, as well as texts and librettos for the choir and opera. Her most recent works of poetry include her translation of The Invisible Sun by the twelfth-century Sufi mystic poet Attar (HarperCollins, 2025) and Abacus of Loss: A Memoir in Verse (University of Arkansas Press, 2022). 

Wolpé’s work in opera includes Song of Exile, for choir, and Nava Avaz, a full-length opera for six composers, which will premiere in 2027. She is the recipient of the OPERA America Discovery Award as well as a PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant, a Midwest Book Award, and the Lois Roth Award. 

Wolpé is the writer in residence at the University of California, Irvine, and poetry editor at The Markaz Review. She divides her time between California and Barcelona.