Mohammad-Reza Shafiei Kadkani

• Name — Mohammad–Reza Shafiei Kadkani محمدرضا شفیعی کدکنی • Pen Name — M. Sereshk • Birth Name — Mohammad-Reza Shafiei Kadkani محمدرضا شفیعی کدکنی • Born — 10 October 1939 • Birthplace — Kadkan, Torbat-e Heydarieh, Iran • Occupation — Poet, university professor, researcher and author • Education — Faculty of Letters and Humanities of the University of Tehran

Kadkani did not attend formal primary and secondary education. His parents sent him to classical religious schools at an age when others were going to formal government-sponsored primary and secondary schools. In interviews, he has credited his command of Persian and Arabic literature to his classical training. He was spotted leafing through poetry books in a bookshop when a professor of literature noticed him—and impressed by Kadkani's vast command of Persian poetry—recommended that he formally pursue literature at the University of Mash-had. Shafiei-Kadkani graduated from Tehran University with a doctorate degree in Persian literature. He was a student of prominent figures such as Badiozzaman Forouzanfar, Mohammad Moin, and Parviz Natel-Khanlari.

• Illustration — The poem Happy Journeys! (سفر بخیر) as a wallpoem in Leiden He started publishing his poems in local publications at an early age while still living in the Khorasan province of Iran. Originally, he used the pen-name of "Sereshk", which in Persian can mean "tear". This pen-name was also based on the Persian abbreviation of his full name. His most famous poem -- Happy Journeys!—has brought him international attention. It has decorated a wall in Leiden. It has also been inscribed on tombstones of many Persians, abroad and at home. (Use of poetry on tombstones is a long-standing tradition in the Persian-speaking world.)

Mohammad-Reza Shafiei Kadkani is recorded with the occupation university teacher. Recorded as linguist, poet, historian, translator and essayist.