BiographyMammad Aidani A Picture Out Of Frame Persian poet and playwright |
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Born
in Iran in 1955, his childhood was spent
in the
poverty
stricken areas of the city of his birth, Khorramshahr, near the Persian
Gulf.
He was introduced to Persian literature in his youth by his teachers.
He
migrated to Australia in 1982 after three years in Europe. Mammad
Aidani undertook tertiary study in Italian and Political Theory after
migrating
to Australia. He was awarded a Diploma in Applied Linguistics
(Melbourne)
focusing on literacy, language and society, communication and
bi-lingualism,
a Bachelor of Arts degree (Queensland) and a MA (Melbourne)
investigating
the way in which language influences the self-image and confidence of
people
from non-English-speaking backgrounds. He worked for ten years in the
Western
Region of Melbourne with Early Childhood programs, assisting children
from
non-English-speaking backgrounds with their emotional, intellectual and
linguistic
development. He also worked with the Victorian Foundation for Survivors
of
Torture, editing a collection of their stories, Voices from
the
Deep Close
Distance (1997).
Aidan’s
early
poetry draws
on individual responses to feelings and sensations which suggest the
struggle
of the late nineteenth-century poet with Romanticism and Modernism and
a
migrant poet’s struggle with the language of daily life,
English common
usage
and the experience of exile from a well remembered homeland. As a
playwright he has explored contemporary alienation, disadvantage
and
the construction of meaning. His plays include ‘An Idiot
Amongst
Us’ (1996), ‘She’ (1997), ‘A
Few Steps...
Not Here... not There’ (1998 and 2002), ‘In the
Mirror’ (2002) and two short plays, ‘It
was….
Then’ and ‘Waiting for the Sunset’
(2003), and his
two books, the novella A
Picture Out Of Frame (1997) and his collection of
poems Better
Not to Explain (1994).
He has worked in many collaborative arts projects with other artists and his last three are ‘In Correct Syntax’ with an installation and a textile artist in Adelaide (2002), ‘A Few Steps not Here not There’ (2001) in collaboration with five visual artists in Melbourne and ‘Are you talking to me’ (2004) with an installation artist and an experimental sound musician in Perth.
Mammad was resident in UK from January 2004 till July 2005 where he worked as researcher, creative writing teacher in the extremely challenging and dynamic new Europe. His latest play in-progress, ‘Mother Dust’ had its first reading at the Nuffield Theatre at Lancaster University in May 2004 and has recently been performed at the experimental theatre Green Room in Manchester UK. In April 2005 Mammad participated at the International Drama Practitioners’ Seminar ‘In Place of War,’ which was organised by the Centre for Applied Theatre Research, Drama Department, at the University of Manchester.
In September La Mama Theatre celebrated the ten year anniversary of his creative writing contribution by selecting highlights from the six plays, which have premiered there since 1995. He also delivered two talks on the role of writer and writing in the society. In November his short play ‘Waiting for the Sunset’ was produced at 45 Downstairs Theatre in Melbourne.
As a writer/practitioner Mammad has conducted qualitative research in theatre and creative writing projects.
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He has worked in many collaborative arts projects with other artists and his last three are ‘In Correct Syntax’ with an installation and a textile artist in Adelaide (2002), ‘A Few Steps not Here not There’ (2001) in collaboration with five visual artists in Melbourne and ‘Are you talking to me’ (2004) with an installation artist and an experimental sound musician in Perth.
Mammad was resident in UK from January 2004 till July 2005 where he worked as researcher, creative writing teacher in the extremely challenging and dynamic new Europe. His latest play in-progress, ‘Mother Dust’ had its first reading at the Nuffield Theatre at Lancaster University in May 2004 and has recently been performed at the experimental theatre Green Room in Manchester UK. In April 2005 Mammad participated at the International Drama Practitioners’ Seminar ‘In Place of War,’ which was organised by the Centre for Applied Theatre Research, Drama Department, at the University of Manchester.
In September La Mama Theatre celebrated the ten year anniversary of his creative writing contribution by selecting highlights from the six plays, which have premiered there since 1995. He also delivered two talks on the role of writer and writing in the society. In November his short play ‘Waiting for the Sunset’ was produced at 45 Downstairs Theatre in Melbourne.
As a writer/practitioner Mammad has conducted qualitative research in theatre and creative writing projects.
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