Behzad Jamshidi is a Canadian born artist who specializes in
story telling through several medians of work. Jamshidi is primarily a Chef,
working currently as the Executive Director of a cultural organization devoted
to the development of social conscious projects and businesses called
"Moosh". Jamshidi's Iranian background and exposure to both art and
poetry from an early age inspired him to use the power of dialogue to create
moments of empathy through all the various social experiences he curates. After
abandoning formal education for literature & writing after high school,
Jamshidi took a long standing journey abroad, though Europe and the United
States in order to better situate his culinary career, and uses the devices of
poetry and storytelling in tandem with his Iranian influenced food. Through a
chronic, life threatening illness, loss and the difficulties of maintaining
poise and mental health, many of the themes that he has felt are less
positioned as food driven narratives, otherwise find their place in his poetry.
By long influence of Robert Frost, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Rumi, Hafez and
others, Jamshidi's appreciates using certain classic elements of literature and
poetry to thoughtfully capture difficult personal narratives. This is
Jamshidi's first complete published piece, marking a transition into more
transparency, honesty, and authenticity around his personal life and
experience, as he would have it. At the density of his poetry is resolve and
hope. That experiences will challenge us, break us, and irrefutably give us
agony, but it enables us to become something strong that we were - if only we
are willing to let it. Jamshidi's currently splits his time between projects in
New York and Los Angeles, working to foster more projects to impact our communities
across America, validate social conscious creators and carry narratives that
inspire to make the United States a more inclusive country for all.