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ABOUT PAUL SMITH
PAUL SMITH was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1945. His family lived in the bayside-surburb of Parkdale. Even before he was 8 he was composing poems/songs in the particular ancient form of ghazals, although at the time he didn’t know what they were. At this early age he experienced that ‘this world was a dream from which one some day would wake into reality’ but was told not to express such thoughts as others may think one mad. At college he became through a sympathetic English teacher more involved in writing poetry and fiction and by the time he left school at 17 to ‘see the world and experience everything’ he already considered that his aim in life was to discover the Truth and to become a real Poet. He hitch-hiked along the costal cities and finished up in bohemian Kings Cross in Sydney and met his future wife, Ann. He worked in various occupations including: photography, psych-nursing, fruit-picking and retail. On being called up for Vietnam he decided to discover who these people were he might have to kill. He travelled on the cheap to Singapore then Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, India and Nepal ... an experience that changed his life. On a ship leaving Bombay for Italy he met a man who had just met the Indian born Perfect Spiritual Master of Iranian descent Meher Baba (Merwan S. Irani). After a year investigating this man’s life and teaching he accepted him as his Spiritual Master in 1966 and from his books heard of the Persian poet of ghazals, Hafiz of Shiraz, whom many believed (including Meher Baba) was the greatest poet that ever lived but had not been adequately translated into English. On return to Melbourne he finally got a job of book-selling at the famous Cheshire’s Bookstore and a year later in 1967 married Ann and in 1968 they opened ‘The Source’ Bookstore ... (The first book store in Australia to import books directly from America so breaking the the old British stranglehold on what and where 'colonials' sourced their reading). In 1969 he published and wrote for Source Magazine and read at countless poetry venues including La Mama. He gave a one-man poetry reading in Melbourne’s Town Hall and his poetry was published in magazines in Australia and overseas. In mid-’69 he and Ann and thousands of ‘Meher Baba lovers’ throughout the world travelled to India after Meher Baba ‘dropped the body’ to visit his tomb and pay respects to his close disciples, his ‘mandali’. In 1970 he gave lectures on The Counter Culture at various libraries and conferences and travelled to the USA and set up book a importation scheme that broke forever the trade barrier against importation of American books into Australia and other British ‘colonies’ at that time. He lectured at New School, New York on Tibetan Buddhism and a journey he made in 1965 to a Tibetan monastery on the border of Tibet. He wrote for Melbourne's Nation Review and High Times and other magazines. In 1971 he became the publisher and editor of the Source Newspaper (fortnightly) Australia’s first alternative newspaper with a staff of 22. First printing sales 30,000. Then he helped begin and organise the first western Hunger Fast, for the starving people of Bangladesh, which gained worldwide publicity and raised over $9,000,000 in three months and led to the famous ‘Concert for Bangladesh’. In 1972 he began work on translation of the 791 poems (mainly ghazals) of the Divan of Hafiz. This work would take him 12 years to complete. Hafiz is Persia’s greatest poet and is considered by many authorities to be the world’s greatest poet. In 1973 he opened and operated with wife Ann, the Whole Earth Bookstore, in Bourke Street, Melbourne. He published, wrote for and edited a monthly magazine of Art and Literature, Whole Earth Sun Moon Review and set up and ran Seekers Press ... Australia’s first alternative distribution network for poetry, literature, art and mysticism. Cradle Mountain his first book of poems was published. Paul and Ann adopted a seven year-old Cambodian orphan girl, Chanthan. In 1974 he edited, wrote for and published Pie Anthology... the largest Australian collection of poetry, fiction, literature, craft, art, mysticism. He published three books of other people’s poetry and fiction. In 1984 he completed writing the Divan of Hafiz, two volumes, 1200 pages and also completed Seven Hundred Sayings of Kabir ... short sakhis or poems by the great 15th C. Indian Perfect/Master poet, Kabir. From 1985-1988 he completed The First Mystery, a 600 page mystical, mystery/thriller road novel set in the sixties in Australia and throughout the East and San Francisco. The Divan of Hafiz was published (New Humanity Books). Seven Hundred Sayings of Kabir was published (96 pages) Tongue of the Hidden ... a selection of Hafiz’s ghazals was also published (96 pages). Book of the Winebringer ... the complete masnavi poems of Hafiz was published (96 pages). Love’s Perfect Gift ... the complete rubaiyyat of Hafiz was also published (96 pages) ... all by New Humanity Books. He gave the keynote lecture and seminar at the request of Diane Cilento (Australian actor and Sufi guru) to approximately 500 members of the worldwide Beshara Institute at Sydney University. Subject: Hafiz, Ibn ‘Arabi, Sufism and God. He travelled through Asia and India reading his own poetry and Hafiz’s and Kabir’s to crowds of up to 15,000 people. He became Vice-President of Australia-Cambodia Association. During 1989 he wrote Hafiz’s life story as a radio play Song of Shiraz and he performed poetry and was interviewed on 3RRR Radio station. He gave a poetry reading at the Australian Poetry Festival for the third time and also gave readings of own poetry on radio and gave poetry readings and two hour lectures and stories of Hafiz to approximately 6000 people in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, New York, New Jersey, Atlanta and elsewhere. He set up worldwide distribution for books at Washington DC Book-fair and wrote a stage play: Shiraz: The Life of Hafiz. In 1990 he wrote the first draft for a feature film, The Fatal Kiss. He also wrote the first draft for the feature film, Hafiz of Shiraz. He wrote a film dance script, The Dance of Love, based on a film-scenerio by Meher Baba. He then wrote Golf is Murder! ... a golfing mystery novel. He published six new book titles. He recorded songs for Hafiz of Shiraz (ghazals set to music by his childhood friend John Rasmussen) with John’s band Shirazi and together gave a sell-out concert of Hafiz songs and poems at Montsalvat in Eltham, Australia to much acclaim. Paul and Ann became proud grandparents with the arrival of Daniel. During 1991 he wrote the first draft of a feature film, Going Back. He also wrote the first draft of a feature film based on his novel, Golf is Murder! He wrote the first episode and outline for a 26 part television series; The Mark about the History of Australia through the eyes of a family over the past 150 yrs involved in Australian Rules Football. He wrote an outline for a television series based on his novel, The First Mystery. He also wrote an outline for a television documentary series, Masters of Silence ... on the Mystical connection to the creation of Silent Movies. He wrote an outline for a feature film based on the French classic Les Enfants du Paradis, Heaven’s Children. He wrote an outline for a T.V. series, The Mirror (about a mirror in a costume store through which when trying on costumes a person is transported back into adventures at the time that the costume depicts). During the period 1992-1993 he was invited to Iran by the Australian and Iranian Governments to give lectures and make a film about their greatest poet whose work he had translated and written a book about ... Hafiz, expenses to be paid by the Australian Government. He flew to India but was told situation in Iran was too dangerous to proceed and to wait in India, which he did for five months until eventually the trip was called off. While in India he filmed 32 hrs for 7 documentaries. 1. On Ganesh, the Elephant God. 2. Christmas in India. 3. On Indian Traffic and Rickshaw Drivers. 4. Ellora Caves. 5. On Dr Arvind Chopra. 6. On the Poet/Perfect Masters of Maharastrha. 7. On Shivaji and his Forts. He also worked on the second volume of his Mystery trilogy ... The Second Mystery. With his wife Ann he opened Book Heaven country Victoria’s largest secondhand bookstore. During 1994-1995 he gave the keynote lecture on Hafiz at Sydney University at the First Persian Cultural Festival of Sydney. He wrote approximately 100 of his own poems. He wrote the first 800 couplets of an English version of the great Persian poet Rumi’s masterpiece The Masnavi (with Omid Honari) which consists of 32,500 couplets in six books. Note Rumi is now the most popular and best selling poet in the world (by 2003 Hafiz becomes number two!) In 1996-7 he wrote the first episode and outline of Pan in the 21st Century, a 26 part television series and film script on Peter Pan waking up in Australia (The Never-Never ... as it was always called) in the beginning of the 21st Century and having to cope with a dead-end gang of lost boys and hip-hop and guns, drugs, sex & rock n’ roll and all the "niceties" of modern life ... TV, Cars, aeroplanes, pollution etc. All he can do is fly and not grow up, and looks back on his life over the last 2400 years to help him! Paul gave a lecture on Hafiz, Sufism and World Religions at a conference on religions of the world to held in Sydney in January 1997. He continued working on Rumi’s Masnavi, begun in 1995. 1998-9 Paul gave a lecture and read poems ‘Sufi Poets’ at the Gnostic Institute Conference in Melbourne. He worked on an animated film on the Life of Hafiz called Hafiz: The Boy Who Became The World’s Greatest Poet. He continued with work on Rumi’s Masnavi (with Omid Honari) and personal poems. He wrote film, The Zen-Golf Murder (follow-up to Golf is Murder!). He gave Hafiz poetry reading at the Australian Poetry Festival. He continued to work on Rumi’s Masnavi completing 3000 couplets and wrote his own poems as always. Approximately 700 pages of his own poetry completed as an e-book: The Master, the Muse and the Poet. (by 2005, 800 poems) In 2000 he created Hafiz for our Time Project consisting of 3 full-length feature films with International cast, one 40 hr television series, one full-length Animated feature film with International cast, one Stage Play, one Musical, one Radio Play, two documentaries and Festivals in Shiraz. plus CD’s Books etc. etc. Unfortunately, after negotiations for 3 years with various departments in Iran by Dr. Morteza, Hoessein and Omid Honari, due to final censorship laws there, unable to proceed although much interest shown by many ministers including the president, Khatemi. He finished writing the Animated feature film ... Hafiz. He wrote the children’s book Hafiz: The Boy Who Became the World’s Greatest Poet. He wrote Eternal Triangle update of Film, Dance, Drama ... The Dance of Love. He also wrote outlines for two documentaries Hafiz for Our Time and Hafiz and The World. He worked on interpretations for the book ... Hafiz: The Oracle ... 430 pages. He finished the feature film script ... Heaven’s Children ... a Modern Poetry Musical! He began writing a feature film on Australian Rules Football ... The Greatest Game. He wrote a novel of The Greatest Game. He updated the Television Series on History of Australia and Australian Rules Football ... 13 part television series ... The Mark: The Australian Game. He began a biographical/novel-trilogy of 2100 pages on the life and times of Hafiz called Hafiz of Shiraz. In 2001 he continued writing biographical novel Hafiz of Shiraz. He worked on and completed Hafiz: The Oracle (with interpretations). He wrote a novel of The Zen-Golf Murder. He wrote a novel of The Fatal Kiss. He almost completed the first 700 pages of novel-trilogy on Life and Times of Hafiz of Shiraz ... 1320-1389A.D. called Hafiz of Shiraz. He completed a book Poona ... Poems, photographs, spiritual travelogue ... about Meher Baba’s birth-place and family. He worked on the novel The Second Mystery. He wrote a novel of Going Back. He wrote a book The Mice and the Cat (trans. of Obeyd Zakani’s famous satirical epic poem). He began work on editing his Anthology of Sufi Poetry. He continued work on the Hafiz For Our Time Project. He began work on translating Nizami’s masterpiece Layla & Majnun. In 2002 Paul was contacted by and negotiated with famous British film producer Robert Watts ... producer of Meetings with Remarkable Men, Star Wars (2), Raiders of Lost Ark (2), Roger Rabbit, Alive etc. for him to produce through his multi-media company Transformer Inc. Entertainment Hafiz of Shiraz (possibly a 3 part film) ... finances should be in place by Mid. ‘06. He finished the first 250 pages of 2nd vol. of 3 vol. novel/biog. on life of Hafiz named Hafiz of Shiraz. He wrote the first 4 hrs of a 40 part TV series based on continuing novel Shiraz. Paul finished translating Nizami’s 12th century epic, classic love poem masterpiece of Layla & Majnun with long introduction on life of Nizami. He also finished another of Nizami’s great mystical masnavi/epic poetry books, The Treasury of the Secrets. In 2003 he began work on a film-script about conflict between controversial mystic/linguist/healer Fabre d’Olivet and Napoleon called The Healer & the Emperor. He also finished a film-script of Nizami’s classic story that inspired Shakespeare to write Romeo & Juliet ... Layla & Majnun ... 2-hour movie as animated or real-life film with all speech and songs in verse. Paul also continued work on the 3 vol. Hafiz Novel/Biography called Hafiz of Shiraz. He wrote a Musical on the life of Hafiz ... Shiraz! He rewrote the scripts ... The Greatest Game, Golf is Murder! The Zen-Golf Murder, The Fatal Kiss, Going Back and Pan in the 21st Century and Heaven’s Children. He began work on a book of the work of Obeyd Zakani: 14th century Persian Poet & Satirist, Obeyd Zakani: The Dervish Joker. He worked on a book of Selected Poems with Rezvaneh Pashai of Jahan Khatun 14th century Shirazi princess-poet, friend of Hafiz, perhaps Iran’s greatest female poet ... Hafiz’s Friend: Jahan Malek Khatun: A Selection from Her Divan. Ann and Paul became happy grandparents again with the arrival of Amy. During 2004 Paul completed the second volume of Hafiz of Shiraz a historical Novel/Biography and wrote 200 pages of the third and final volume. He completed the book of and about the poetry, satire, social commentary and obscene stories and jokes of Obeyd Zakani, the infamous 14th century satirist/poet teacher and friend of Hafiz .... still considered to be Iran’s greatest satirist ... Obeyd Zakani: The Dervish Joker. He also began work on an English Versions of many of the ghazals/poems of the great Sadi of Shiraz, The Tayyibat, and The Bayadi to be titled Sadi’s Divan: The Mystical Love Poetry of Sadi of Shiraz. He wrote the first 10 hours in scripts for a 40 part 40 hour television series on the life of Hafiz, to be taken from his three part Novel/Biography. Hafiz of Shiraz... for possible filming in India in 2006-7. During 2005 Paul finished his English version of the ghazals of Sadi: Sadi’s Divan: The Mystical Love Poetry of Sadi of Shiraz ... 600 pages. He continued work on the third volume of Hafiz of Shiraz. He began writing book of his own ghazals titled ... Compassionate Rose: Divan of Paul Smith. He completed writing the film-script The Healer and the Emperor on the battle between the mystic and linguist and healer Fabre d’Olivet and Napoleon Bonaparte. He created his Hafiz website Hafizofshiraz.com and an online publishing company Shirazbooks.com
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