The University of Toronto, in collaboration with the Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation (EIF), is launching Women Poets Iranica, an integrative encyclopedia of postclassical, modern, and contemporary women poets. Informed by several decades of transdisciplinary recuperative research in Persian literary studies, Poets Iranica provides literary- historical articles on female poets and their poetic agency, imagination, tropes, narratives, and lives and the provenance and literary significance of their poetry. As a digital encyclopedia, Poets Iranica is an academic reconceptualization of women poets’ biographical dictionaries (tazkirah), which began with the mid-sixteenth century Javahir al-‘Ajayib (Jewels of Wonder) of Fakhri Haravi. Written by experts in Persian literary history and its cognate fields, and intended for the diverse needs of students, teachers, researchers, and the educated public, the well-documented articles in Women Poets Iranica will be prepared following the highest standards of historical accuracy, reliability and citation in the humanities and social sciences.
Women Poets Iranica:
A Digital Research Compendium
Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation
The Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation was established in 1990 to guarantee the Encyclopædia Iranica’s intellectual independence and ensure its ongoing publication both in digital and print versions. In addition to Encyclopedia Iranica, EIF publishes Cinema Iranica and Women Poets Iranica.




The theses I supervised reflect the broad academic training I received as a graduate student and were specifically focused on women’s poetry (“Gulten Akin, A Pioneering Turkish Woman Poet: An Analysis of Her Life, Poetry and Poetics Within Their Social, Historical and Literary Context” (defended 2001) and women in their social setting (“The New Armenian Woman’s Writing in the Ottoman Empire, 1880-1915” (defended 2000). I served as a co-supervisor for the thesis of the well-known poet Saeed Ghahremani whose granting department was the U of T Centre for Comparative Literature.
I consider as part of my education and research the three trips I made to Iran in the 1970s: three months travelling throughout Iran (except the south) in 1971, two months during 1974, living with a family in Tehran and attending a language school, and in 1976, a trip to the Royal Ontario Museum archeological site near Kermanshah. All three visits provided an opportunity to enlarge the range of society portrayed in literature.
International Editorial Board





Photo credit: Andrea Kane, Institute for Advanced Study




Wolpé's translations of the twelfth-century Sufi mystic poet, Attar, The Conference of the Birds (W.W. Norton & Company), and of the twentieth-century Iranian rebel poet Forugh Farrokhzad, Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad (University of Arkansas Press), have garnered awards and established Wolpé as a celebrated re-creator of Persian poetry in English.
Most recently, her play SHAME was featured in New Iranian Plays, published by Aurora Metro books (2022). Wolpé wrote the libretto for an oratorio, “The Conference of the Birds,” and a multi-genre performance, “The Seven Valleys,” which premiered, respectively, at the Broad Stage and the Getty Villa Museum in 2022. “Song of Exile,” for The Arlington Chorale, will premiere in Virginia in 2023.
Sholeh has lived in Iran, Trinidad, and the United Kingdom and is currently a writer-in-residence at the University of California, Irvine. She performs her literary work solo and with musicians internationally. She divides her time between Los Angeles and Barcelona.

Research Team









Amir was a radio guest expert for several years in the startup ecosystem of Iran. During his career, he has gained experience working with the National Library and Archives of Iran and the Parliament Library of Iran. In addition to this, he has more than a thousand hours of experience in placing workshops on library systems, knowledge management systems, and standards.






However, Arash's achievements span beyond the traditional confines of hard sciences. As the former Editor-in-Chief for the Peik scientific magazine, he successfully orchestrated a team of over thirty individuals, ensuring the production of significant and impactful scientific content. His administrative aptitude shone through during his stint as an executive member of the Iranian Students’ Association at UofA. There, he meticulously organized various activities and events, which earned him well-deserved accolades from the university.
Complementing his academic and professional pursuits, Arash has nurtured a profound connection with the arts. For the past decade, he has been mastering the Setar, a classic Iranian musical instrument, showcasing his deep reverence for cultural heritage and the arts. This artistic endeavor has not only augmented his creative abilities, but it has also fostered essential skills such as team collaboration, communication, and cross-cultural engagement.
Given his eclectic experiences — encompassing academic research, leadership in student organizations, pedagogical commitments, and artistic endeavors — Arash stands uniquely equipped for roles that demand a harmonious fusion of technical proficiency, project management, communication skills, and cultural comprehension.


His doctoral project aims to study the historical development of the discourse of voluntary death—suicide and martyrdom—in twentieth-century Iran. In particular, his dissertation aims to connect the concurrent development of psychiatric studies on suicide, the necropolitical discourse of martyrdom, and the environmental discourse of pollution as a mass suicide.
Gunha has been involved with multiple academic projects related to Iran. He has contributed as a digital archivist at the Persian Archive, a researcher for the encyclopedia of Iranian Cinema and Iranian women poets, and, very recently, an editorial intern of an Iranian Studies journal.





In Dr. Tavakili’s group, I have opportunity to delve into the realm of Artificial Intelligence, with a particular focus on Natural Language Processing (NLP). In this capacity, I am involved in an intriguing Digital Humanities project, where I utilize AI and NLP techniques to unlock valuable insights and facilitate novel approaches to understanding various aspects of the humanities and the Persian poets.

Sogand’s research interests center around the fascinating intersection of social studies and dramatic art. She enjoys exploring the social and political dimensions of the body in performance and dramatic texts. Through her research, she aims to shed light on the transformative power of theater and its potential to inspire meaningful societal change.
In addition to her academic pursuits, Sogand loves engaging in various artistic and outdoor activities. She finds peace and creative inspiration in playing the piano. Furthermore, her passion for singing allows her to express herself and convey emotions through the magic of music. When she isn’t engrossed in her artistic endeavors, Sogand often spends time hiking and immersing herself in nature’s beauty, as she seeks out new adventures in life.





Currently, Zahra has embarked on a new journey as a member of Professor Tavakoli’s team, immersing herself in the Iranian Cinema Project. Driven by her profound appreciation for the arts, Zahra aims to offer a fresh and unique perspective to the exploration of Iranian cinema, highlighting its cultural and artistic importance.





Previously, Yasamin worked for the Multi-Faith Center at the University of Toronto where she founded and co-hosted Subaltern Speaks, a podcast sponsored by Student Life dedicated to exploring the legacies of colonialism on the religion and spiritualties of colonized peoples. As someone of partial Iranian descent, Yasamin has a natural love and admiration for Iranian history and culture, particularly Iranian history from the Safavid era and onwards. More broadly, Yasamin’s interests and perspectives are also informed by her Latin American and Dutch Caribbean heritage which have contributed to her profound fascination with the history of the Americas, Atlantic history, and Early Modern European history.

Presently, she is dedicating her efforts as a research assistant for the Iranian Cinema Project at Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies. In addition to academic pursuits, Sahar is a freelance translator who is currently busy translating a legal dictionary. Sahar has made it her personal mission to translate as many academic sources in her field as possible and make them accessible for students in her home country, Iran. She finds peace grappling with words and their meanings and hopes to leave a practical legacy for her country in this way.







Beyond her engineering pursuits, Hanie possesses a deep appreciation for various art forms, including cinema and poetry. Motivated by her passion for the arts and a desire to explore the cultural richness of her homeland, Hanie recently joined the esteemed Cinema Iranica team. Hanie aims to contribute a fresh and unique perspective to the project, shedding light on the cultural and artistic significance of Iranian cinema.
With her diverse background and interdisciplinary interests, Hanie is committed to bridging the gap between engineering and the humanities. She aspires to make meaningful contributions not only to her research but also to the broader understanding and appreciation of Iranian cinema, ultimately fostering a deeper connection between technology and the arts.

Negin has quantitative and qualitative research experience. She has worked for the UN Information Centre in Tehran and UNDP in Istanbul, Turkey in areas of Research, Communication, Climate Change and Sustainability. She has language abilities in Persian, English, Russian, Turkish and Tajiki. Negin is assisting the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies, University of Toronto with Women Poets and Cinema Iranica Projects