Ariadne’s Notes: The World Poetry Café Radio Show welcomed the multitalented poet, author and singer  to the show on February 18th on CFRO 100.5 FM. Music by : Valerie Cardill, Ablaye and Volker. Background music by Rene Hugo Sanchez.

To hear this informative and lovely show: Click Here!

Nasreen Pejvack was born in Tehran, Iran.  Today she resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.  At a young age, Nasreen left Iran for Greece due to the brutal aftermath of the 1979 revolution in Iran.  After 19 months living in Athens, she left for Canada to begin a new life in a more peaceful environment.  As her credentials were not recognized in Canada, she started anew by studying computer programming at Algonquin college in Ontario.

She lived and worked in Ottawa for 8 years.  Soon, her adventurous spirit brought her to Vancouver, British Columbia where she continued work in the computer field, and at the same time discovered the magnificent beauty of the West Coast.

She then moved to California to work as a Systems Analyst for CNet Networks during the tech boom of the 1990s.  After several years she returned to her new homeland of Canada and her beloved BC.  After over 11 years in the IT field, she decided to start a new chapter in her life and made a conscious decision to work with people instead of codes and projects.  While working as a counselor and educator, she also developed and presented Workshops  http://www.examine-consider-act.org/Workshops.html?0=  tailored to the needs and requirements of her clients; she pursued and completed a degree in psychology, and is now studying Sociology aiming for her PhD. 

As she travels and enjoys nature, she has learned more and more about the human psyche and people’s behaviours, and tries to understand humanity in all its complexity.   She is concerned about why have we come such a long way in this epoch in gaining such profound intellectual capital and developing such marvelous technology, and yet wars, pain, conflict, hunger and strife have followed us throughout this history?  She asks the world why, despite all that we have accomplished, self-interest and intolerance threatens to overcome all our achievements.  She continues her research and anxiously watches human nature and behaviour to see if we can step back from the brink of destroying everything.

By 2012, she decided to take early retirement and has since renewed her battle with the world’s wars, hunger and greed.  To start, she wrote a historical novel called “Amity” which is being published by York University Press, Inanna.  “Amity” is a window through which one can see the wreckage caused by wars and conflict, which leave behind destruction, displacements, struggles and pain resulting in life-long psychological disorders that are irreparable.  It is a story about the lives of various people who live within these wreckages and must deal with their devastations, here specifically within the contexts of Yugoslavia’s dissolution and Iran’s revolution.   The book questions the motivations of those inflicting these injuries upon peoples and ecosystems, and pursues discussions about solutions or paths that we all might take to repair our dysfunctional societies and know peace.

Nasreen Pejvack also writes poetry, short stories and articles in her website: http://www.examine-consider-act.org/ and Inanna Publication Blog:their link is here: http:// www.inanna.ca/blog-and media/blog

Waiting

I am the daughter of mother earth I am the tears of the mountains, joining the rivers;

together we join the oceans I am the lover of earth’s forests, oceans and mountains I have climbed the hard mountains, seeking freedom,

hearing of freedom I have traveled across the world, seeking liberty,

talking of freedom I have followed our thinkers; listened to their speeches,

seeking a liberated world I long for peace on mother earth; and still I am waiting I dream of a united world, with no war and no slaughter;

yet hopelessly only wishing it, not tasting it
I still climb mountains, roam forests,

enjoy the birds, and talk of love. Yet the ones around me are oblivious to the real me;

the real me is bleeding, watching the apathetic people around me…

You are the power behind me, next to me You are the one who shares this world with me You are who is making it grow and develop You are who can contribute to its happiness You are who can ignore the tyrant’s bully,

You are who can make a difference or be indifferent

Have I given up hope? Not yet Have I waited too long? Undeniably Have I lost my trust?  Not yet Have I waited for us to make it right? Indeed

Nasreen Pejvack (c)