Sholeh Wolpé is an Iranian-born American poet, librettist and playwright. Her plays include THE CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS (Ubuntu Theater Project, Northern Illinois University, Inferno Theater), THE SEVEN VALLEYS (Getty Museum Villa), LET ME IN ( Theaterolk), HOLY CORONA (The Alternative Theater), RED IN KONYA (Full Color Productions), and BROTHERS AT THE CANADIAN BORDER (Town Street Theater).
Wolpé wrote the libretto for an oratorio, “The Conference of the Birds” which premiered at The Broad Stage in Los Angeles in 2022. She wrote the libretto for “Song of Exile” commissioned by The Arlington Chorale which premiered in Virginia in 2023. As of 2024, her most recent commission as a librettist is a full-length opera for six award-winning female composers.
Her other literary work includes 12 books of poems, translations and anthologies. She is the recipient of the 2014 PEN/Heim, 2013 Midwest Book Award and 2010 Lois Roth Persian Translation prize and over the past few years her plays have been a finalist or semifinalist at Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Centenary Stage Women Playwrights Series, and Ashland New Plays Festival.
Wolpé is presently a Writer-In-Residence at UCI and an editor at The Markaz Review. She has lived in Iran, the UK and Trinidad and now divides her time between Southern California and Barcelona. More information: www.sholehwolpe.com