Kaveh Akbar’s Labor of Love
The moment Kaveh Akbar realized he’d broken through as a poet, he was driving down the highway. It was Dec. 26, 2016, and he glanced at his phone to change the music in the car and saw an email from Pulitzer Prize winner Frank Bidart.
“I literally pulled over to read it because I was like, holy shit, this is a true hero of mine,” says Akbar, who’d previously corresponded with Bidart about an interview for Divedapper, Akbar’s website featuring conversations with poets. But he didn’t expect Bidart to remember him, let alone read his work in a literary journal and send him a fan letter. “For Bidart, this titan whose thoughts have indelibly shaped my thinking, to take the time to write—it was like Olympus.”
When Bidart emailed him, Akbar had already finished his; his debut collection, , was also forthcoming from Alice James. All the pieces were in place for a promising career, but he had no idea whether he’d make an impact. Those misgivings were soon dispelled, as went on to sell more than 17,000 copies.
