TEHRAN — Iran marked 
National Day of Persian Poetry and Literature with a three-day program in Tabriz and the birthplace of celebrated poet Muhammad-Hussein Behjat Tabrizi, known by his pen name Shahriar, bringing together poets, scholars, cultural officials and literary institutions for readings, academic discussions, exhibitions and commemorative ceremonies.
The principal program, titled “Shahriar, Poet of the Iranian People,” was held from September 16 to 18 in Tabriz and East Azerbaijan Province, with additional preliminary cultural and specialist events held from September 14 to 16. The national observance falls on September 18, corresponding to 27 Shahrivar, the anniversary of Shahriar’s death.
The choice of Shahriar places the poet at the center of an occasion intended to celebrate Persian poetry more broadly while highlighting one of modern Iran’s most distinctive literary figures. Born in Khoshgenab in East Azerbaijan in 1906, Shahriar wrote in both Persian and Azerbaijani Turkish, moving between classical poetic forms and a more intimate language rooted in memory, place, family and everyday experience.
The program in Tabriz included six principal events, alongside a wider series of literary and cultural activities across the province. Morteza Muhammadzadeh, deputy governor-general for political and social affairs of East Azerbaijan, said the events were designed to bring together government institutions, cultural organizations and non-governmental groups around Shahriar’s literary legacy.
Among the central events is a specialist gathering examining Shahriar’s poetry, alongside sessions devoted to particular dimensions of his work. 
One program, “Woman in the Mirror of Shahriar’s Poetry,” considered representations of women and related themes in his poetry. Other activities included literary meetings, poetry programs, exhibitions and academic discussions intended to examine his contribution to Persian and Azerbaijani-language literature.
The University of Tabriz also hosted a scientific conference as part of the celebrations, extending the commemoration beyond ceremonial tributes into literary and scholarly study. Public libraries in East Azerbaijan held their own

 programs, while cultural centers in Tabriz organized poetry and discussion sessions involving writers, researchers and literary enthusiasts.
One of the most significant events took place in Khoshgenab, Shahriar’s ancestral village in Bostanabad County. The program, titled “A Day with Shahriar’s Heydar Baba,” was linked to Heydar Babaye Salam, his celebrated Azerbaijani Turkish poem inspired by the landscape and memories of his childhood.
The event also marked the opening of Shahriar’s paternal home as a house museum, turning a place closely associated with the poet’s life and literary imagination into a cultural site. 
The ceremony was attended by Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Seyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri; Minister of Agriculture Jihad Gholamreza Nouri Qezeljeh, and Governor-General of East Azerbaijan Bahram Sarmast, among other national and provincial officials.
The Tabriz program also included a flower-laying ceremony at the Poets’ Mausoleum, where participants paid tribute to Shahriar and other poets and mystics associated with Azerbaijan. The main national ceremony was held at the Petrochemical Hall in Tabriz on Friday.
The celebrations also provided a platform for senior literary figures. Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, president of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, took part in the scholarly program and discussed Shahriar’s place in contemporary Persian poetry, including the significance of Heydar Babaye Salam. 
His participation placed the commemoration within a broader institutional discussion about Persian literary heritage and the relationship between Persian and Azerbaijani Turkish poetic traditions.
The cultural program was held alongside a broader official emphasis on Persian as a vehicle of literary and cultural continuity. In his message for National Day of Persian Poetry and Literature, Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi described Persian poetry as a repository of wisdom, ethics, mysticism and spirituality, and presented Shahriar as a poet whose work connected emotional expression with faith.
For Shahriar, whose poetry crossed linguistic boundaries while remaining deeply rooted in the landscapes and memories of Azerbaijan, the national day offers Iran an opportunity to revisit not only one poet’s work but also the enduring relationship between language, place and cultural memory.