Haleh Liza Gafori had the offer of a lifetime. And then she said no.

Gafori was one of the lucky few to get accepted into Harvard Medical School. But instead, the Iranian-American writer and translator decided to pursue her true passion: The arts.

“It’s a pity,” her mother said recently, holding a framed copy of her daughter’s acceptance letter.

Instead, Gafori earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the City College of New York.
Now, years later, the 49-year-old ­— who’s also a singer, songwriter, poet and educator — is not looking back. She has several works in her portfolio, including Water, a follow-up to Gold, her acclaimed 2022 translation of Rumi’s poetry. She will appear at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education’s Blacksmith House Poetry Series on Monday, May 5, and at Brookline Booksmith’s Transnational Literature Series on Tuesday, May 6.

Born in the Bronx on March 13, 1974, Gafori is the second child of two physicians who left Iran for the United States shortly after the 1979 revolution. She was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey, alongside her older sister, Valery. While Valery followed in their father’s footsteps, becoming a gynecologist, Gafori went in a different direction. As Rumi wrote about the paths we choose in life, “No one can walk it for you.”

Gafori first discovered her passion for the arts in middle school, performing in a musical production. Her creative curiosity continued to blossom in adolescence.

“Eugène Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano taught me about the absurdity of humanity,” she recalled.

She then attended Stanford University and, despite her interest in the arts, chose to study biology.
“As the child of Iranian immigrants, both physicians, there was a sense that following in my parents’ footsteps was the only legitimate career choice,” she said.

After her pivotal moment of getting accepted into Harvard and turning it down, she said, life wasn’t without its obstacles, especially financial ones.

“A career in the arts is more challenging than a more conventional career because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. “It’s not as clear a path. You’re often dealing with the unknown, with mystery. You never know when the next job opportunity will arise.”

She emphasized the importance of versatility for any working artist.

“If you choose to pursue a career in the arts, don’t keep all your eggs in one basket,” she said. “There will always be stressors in the arts. But you don’t want to feel stressed about something you feel passionate about, so it’s good to have other avenues—other types of jobs—whether that means you’re producing music for film and TV or teaching.”

For a time, Gafori worked as a tour guide at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan.

Her translations have received critical acclaim for reintroducing Rumi to English-speaking audiences through a poetic voice that remains deeply rooted in the Farsi original.

“Gafori’s new translations of Rumi are the work of someone who is at once an acute and enamored reader of the original Farsi text, a dedicated miner of context and back story, and, best of all, a marvelous poet in English,” poet Marilyn Hacker has written.

For Gafori, translation is more than a technical exercise — it’s a sacred encounter.

“In translation, you eat the words of a poem and let them flow through you,” she said. “You then sit down and attempt to bring them into the music of another language.”

Looking back, she has no regrets about choosing the artist’s path.

“We’ve got to make decisions in life. We may never know if they’re the right decision,” she said. “But is it really about right and wrong? Life is a journey. We make a decision, and then we’ve got to move forward, not backward.”

Ultimately, the decision to pursue a career in the arts, she believes, “depends on how much curiosity is fueling your dream and how much work has gone into your dream already.”

She also advises giving the choice careful consideration.

“Sit down and meditate on it,” she said. “Get advice from people who know you well, people who know how your psyche works. It’s a very personal decision, and it shouldn’t be made lightly.”

While the road may be uncertain, Gafori’s story is a testament to the rewards of a career in the arts. With determination, dedication and self-discipline, the journey can foster deep personal growth and profound human connection.

As Gafori has said: “Life is a journey,” Gafori said. “We make a decision, and then we’ve got to move forward, not backward.”