Coleman Barks

Coleman Barks (born April 23, 1937) is an American poet, teacher, and the best-known English interpreter of the 13th-century Persian mystic Rumi. A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Barks taught literature and creative writing at the University of Georgia for three decades before retiring as professor emeritus. Though he does not read Persian, he produced widely read English versions of Rumi's poetry beginning in the 1970s; his collections (notably The Essential Rumi) helped popularize Rumi in the English-speaking world. Barks has published original poetry collections as well and has received multiple honors for his work.