Joobin Bekhrad

Joobin Bekhrad (Persian: ژوبین بخرد) is an award-winning writer. In addition to having authored numerous books, he is the founder and editor of the arts and culture publication Reorient, and has contributed to a host of other renowned publications. His writings, which have been republished in a variety of languages, tend to focus on Iranian culture and the experience of living in the Iranian diaspora.

Biography

Born in Tehran and raised in Toronto, Bekhrad holds degrees from the Schulich School of Business (York University) and the Cass Business School (City University London). In 2015, he was granted an International Award for Art Criticism from London’s Royal College of Art.

Journalism

Bekhrad’s writings have appeared in prominent publications and news websites, such as The New York Times, The Economist, The Guardian, Forbes, and the BBC. He has also contributed to academic journals (e.g. The Cairo Review of Global Affairs and Anthropology of the Middle East), encyclopaedias (e.g. Encyclopaedia Iranica), and contemporary art magazines (e.g. Frieze, Aesthetica, and ArtAsiaPacific). In 2016 he served as the Guest Editor of Columbia University’s Columbia Journal for its Election Feature.

Press

Bekhrad has been interviewed by prestigious media outlets like PRI, the CBC, and Newsweek (which referred to him as a ‘leading figure in the art world’ in 2016), in addition to arts publications (e.g. The Art Newspaper), fashion magazines (e.g. l’Officiel Hommes), and fashion labels (e.g. Pull and Bear). He has also been the subject of articles in local Iranian newspapers (e.g. Ghanoon and Aftab), as well as an artwork in Sassan Behnam Bakhtiar’s Invincible series (2016).

Books

Bekhrad’s books have garnered praise from luminaries such as Parviz Tanavoli, Tom Holland, and Simon Napier-Bell. Although varying in style and medium, they all have Iran at their core.

• Coming Down Again (fiction; Troubador, 2016)
• The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam (poetry; Balboa, 2017)
• Lovers of Light (poetry; Lulu, 2017)
• With My Head in the Clouds and Stars in My Eyes: Stories About Iran and Elsewhere (memoir; Troubador, 2017)

Texts in other books

• Ali Mobasser: Stamps of a Revolution (Ag Galerie, 2017)
• Sarah Maple: Not My Cup of Tea (New Art Exchange, 2017)
• Memory & Future/Future & Memory (Fondation Behnam Bakhtiar, 2016)
• Mahdi Ehsaei: Afro-Iran (Kehrer Verlag, 2015)