Fatemeh Ekhtesari: Solitary Confinement and Verses in Unbound Speech
– Iran
Fatemeh Ekhtesari (* 1986) is an Iranian poetess, editor and human rights activist with background in midwifery. She is a member of literary movement Postmodern Ghazal, which is considered to be the most radical poetic group in contemporary Iran. Ekhtesari has been the editor-in-chief of several literary magazines, currently she supervises an online magazine Independent Iranian Literature. Her poetry, fiction and non-fiction work explore issues of sexuality, religion, gender, and the struggle for women’s rights in Iran and outside.
In Iran she published more than a dozen of poetry collections; her first book Yek bahse feministi ghabl az pokhtane sibzaminiha (Feminist Discussions before Cooking Potatoes) was published in 2010. When it came to light, that she has written censored words back into her book by hand, the authorities banned its distribution. Since leaving Iran, Fatemeh Ekthesari has published poetry collection Bote Bozorg (The Great Idol), two short shorty collections Shena kardan dar hozcheye acid (Swimming in the Acid Pool) and Tabar (Axe), two multi-genre books titled The dead who was dead, took a deep breath (38 days in Evin’s solitary confinement) and Nazdiki, and two bilingual poetry collections Vi overlever ikke (We Will Not Survive) and Hun er ikke kvinne (She Is Not a Woman). She has also vreated a feature-length documentary Unpublishable and two short documentary films, Still and The Ways.
Since 2017 she is an ICORN writer in residence in Lillehammer, Norway.