{"id":86443,"date":"2025-04-10T15:53:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T15:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/?p=86443"},"modified":"2025-04-11T06:01:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T06:01:59","slug":"martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMartyr!\u201d by Kaveh Akbar: The weight of living and loving"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some books are read and forgotten. And then there are others\u2014like “Martyr!”<\/strong> by Kaveh Akbar<\/strong><\/a>\u2014that stay with you, that pierce deep, open wounds you didn\u2019t know existed, and make you look inward, questioning everything.<\/p>\n

Finalist for the National Book Award<\/em>, “Martyr!”<\/em> was chosen by The New York Times<\/em> as one of the best books of the year\u2014and it\u2019s not hard to see why.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h6>\n
What is Martyr!<\/em> by Kaveh Akbar about?<\/h6>\n

The protagonist of this story is Cyrus Shams<\/em>, a young poet and the son of Iranian immigrants, deeply scarred by the death of his mother in a plane crash and the recent loss of his father.<\/p>\n

Torn between his family\u2019s past, his ongoing recovery from addiction, and an overwhelming spiritual quest, Cyrus<\/em> embarks on an inner journey filled with questions we all ask: What does it mean to live with purpose? What is martyrdom? What is true love?<\/p>\n

Along the way, he meets a terminally ill Iranian artist who transforms her body into a living installation at the Brooklyn Museum. A story within a story. A powerful metaphor for art as resistance, farewell, and necessity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kaveh Akbar: A poetic and radical voice<\/h6>\n

Kaveh Akbar<\/em> is a poet first, and it shows. Every page of “Martyr!”<\/em> is laced with lyricism that moves and surprises. The sentences have texture. The imagery is sharp and beautiful. His language doesn\u2019t merely narrate\u2014it invokes.<\/p>\n

As he recently said in an interview, “Writing is a lot like praying”<\/em>. And there is something of that in this novel: reading it feels like listening to a prayer born of pain\u2014an urgent desire to understand, to heal, and to connect.<\/p>\n

Universal themes: identity, addiction, spirituality, and belonging<\/h6>\n

This is not just a novel about Iran, or about the trauma of migration. Above all, it is a story about how we live with our scars. About how we long to be seen, to be loved, to be forgiven.<\/p>\n

“Martyr!”<\/em> explores faith, guilt, longing, inheritance, grief\u2014but also hope, tenderness, and the possibility of reconciliation with oneself. Akbar creates characters that are broken, imperfect, and real. And that resonates\u2014because, in truth, so are we all.<\/p>\n

About the author, Kaveh Akbar<\/h6>\n

Kaveh Akbar<\/em> was born in Tehran in 1989 and moved with his family to New Jersey at the age of two. An Iranian-American poet and scholar, he is the author of some of the most celebrated poetry collections in recent years (“Calling a Wolf a Wolf”,<\/em> “Pilgrim Bell”<\/em>), with his work featured in The New Yorker<\/em>, The New York Times<\/em>, The Paris Review<\/em>, and Poetry Magazine<\/em> to critical acclaim.<\/p>\n

He also chronicled his journey to sobriety in “Portrait of the Alcoholic”<\/em>, a powerful account in which poetry became an essential part of his recovery. He is the founder of Divedapper<\/em>, a platform that has been publishing interviews with leading contemporary poets for over a decade. “Martyr!”<\/em> is his debut novel\u2014and within its pages, one can trace the many facets of the author\u2019s own life and vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat role does my ego play in all of this? How much of it is just me wanting to be more important than everyone else?\u201d Cyrus<\/h2>\n

A necessary read<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reading “Martyr!”<\/em><\/a> is like looking into a mirror with your eyes closed: you don\u2019t always know what you\u2019ll find, but once you do, you can\u2019t see yourself the same way again. It\u2019s a novel that makes you feel, reflect, and change.<\/p>\n

Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

(*)<\/strong> Images courtesy of Blackie Books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some books are read and forgotten. And then there are others\u2014like “Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar\u2014that stay with you, that pierce deep, open wounds you didn\u2019t know existed, and make you look inward, questioning everything. Finalist for the National Book Award, “Martyr!” was chosen by The New York Times as one of the best books of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":86366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5903,5905],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-en","category-books"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cMartyr!\u201d by Kaveh Akbar: The weight of living and loving<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Review of Martyr!, the debut novel by Kaveh Akbar, published by Blackie Books. An unmissable read and finalist for the National Book Award.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"\u201cMartyr!\u201d by Kaveh Akbar: The weight of living and loving\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Review of Martyr!, the debut novel by Kaveh Akbar, published by Blackie Books. An unmissable read and finalist for the National Book Award.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GkeNSQ6WEAE3RHI.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cecilecollage\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cecilecollage\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cecilia Camacho\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cMartyr!\u201d by Kaveh Akbar: The weight of living and loving\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GkeNSQ6WEAE3RHI.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-10T15:53:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-11T06:01:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/52a8bfc6898cc8937794edb7e040be91\"},\"description\":\"Review of Martyr!, the debut novel by Kaveh Akbar, published by Blackie Books. An unmissable read and finalist for the National Book Award.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GkeNSQ6WEAE3RHI.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GkeNSQ6WEAE3RHI.jpeg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1365},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Portada\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cMartyr!\u201d by Kaveh Akbar: The weight of living and loving\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/\",\"name\":\"CC\/magazine\",\"description\":\"Independent online magazine of lifestyle, design, cities and innovation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/52a8bfc6898cc8937794edb7e040be91\",\"name\":\"Cecilia Camacho\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e580c7637b737a8ac4e4b6c32ea669fc423e6a5b616923ba41a93138e673c93d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e580c7637b737a8ac4e4b6c32ea669fc423e6a5b616923ba41a93138e673c93d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cecilia Camacho\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/ccmagazine.es\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u201cMartyr!\u201d by Kaveh Akbar: The weight of living and loving","description":"Review of Martyr!, the debut novel by Kaveh Akbar, published by Blackie Books. An unmissable read and finalist for the National Book Award.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"\u201cMartyr!\u201d by Kaveh Akbar: The weight of living and loving","twitter_description":"Review of Martyr!, the debut novel by Kaveh Akbar, published by Blackie Books. An unmissable read and finalist for the National Book Award.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GkeNSQ6WEAE3RHI.jpeg","twitter_creator":"@cecilecollage","twitter_site":"@cecilecollage","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cecilia Camacho","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/","url":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/","name":"\u201cMartyr!\u201d by Kaveh Akbar: The weight of living and loving","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GkeNSQ6WEAE3RHI.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-04-10T15:53:31+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-11T06:01:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/52a8bfc6898cc8937794edb7e040be91"},"description":"Review of Martyr!, the debut novel by Kaveh Akbar, published by Blackie Books. An unmissable read and finalist for the National Book Award.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GkeNSQ6WEAE3RHI.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GkeNSQ6WEAE3RHI.jpeg","width":2048,"height":1365},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-the-weight-of-living-and-loving\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Portada","item":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u201cMartyr!\u201d by Kaveh Akbar: The weight of living and loving"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/","name":"CC\/magazine","description":"Independent online magazine of lifestyle, design, cities and innovation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/52a8bfc6898cc8937794edb7e040be91","name":"Cecilia Camacho","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e580c7637b737a8ac4e4b6c32ea669fc423e6a5b616923ba41a93138e673c93d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e580c7637b737a8ac4e4b6c32ea669fc423e6a5b616923ba41a93138e673c93d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cecilia Camacho"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/ccmagazine.es"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86443"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86514,"href":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86443\/revisions\/86514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccmagazine.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}