In addition to poetry, Shamloo was active in press, research, and translation. His collection of books, Kocheh, is the largest research work on Iranian popular culture. Some of his works have been translated into various languages, including Swedish, English, Japanese, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Armenian, Dutch, Romanian, Finnish, Kurdish, and Turkish. He served as the cultural advisor to the Hungarian Embassy in Tehran for two years from 1952. Shamloo was also active in cinema and wrote screenplays for renowned filmmakers such as Samuel Khachikian, Nasser Malek-Mati’i, and Iraj Ghaderi.
Some of Shamloo’s positions on contemporary politics, as well as his comments on traditional Iranian poetry and music and their comparison with European classical music, became controversial. His narration of Hafez’s Divan was considered by some traditionalists to be unscientific. Shamloo was harshly critical of Ferdowsi and Saadi, while he praised some European poets such as Federico García Lorca and Paul Alvar.
Ahmad Shamloo died on August 2, 1990, after a long illness, and his body was buried in the Taher Imamzadeh in Karaj. His tombstone has been broken many times by unknown individuals. Since 2015, the Ahmad Shamloo Poetry Award has been established to honor this poet, and the final ceremony of this literary competition is held on December 11, coinciding with the poet’s birthday.