Of all the many ways in which literature can be delineated and categorized, distinctions along gender lines are perhaps the most complex. Debate around this label, and its implied hierarchy of writerly worth, remains divisive…

Historicizing women’s poetry involves investigation of the evolution of poetry by Iranian women from the beginnings of Persian literature in approximately 900 CE (400 HQ) to the present (2023 CE/1402 HS). This study introduces women…

Introduction Poetry has been the heart of Persianate culture for a long time. More than any artistic media, poems have shaped and manifested Persian mental life for about a millennium.1[The author wishes to express her…

Her Life in Shiraz Jahān was an Injuid princess, and daughter of the ruler of Shiraz, Masʿūd Shāh (r. 736/1336-739/1339).1Dick Davis, trans., The Mirror of My Heart: A Thousand Years of Persian Poetry by Women,…

Introduction Māh Sharaf Khānum Mastūrah, a nineteenth-century Iranian poet who wrote under the pen name “Mastūrah,” was born in Sanandaj (a city in the Kurdistān province) around 1220 AH/1805 CE. According to the Majmaʿ al-fusahā…

Introduction The 1370s/1990s marked a significant turning point in contemporary Iranian poetry, characterized by a bold departure from established norms and the emergence of diverse poetic voices. Among the most transformative developments of this period…

Introduction The corpus of poetry preserved from Persian-speaking female poets is markedly limited compared to that of their male counterparts. As the editor of Hayrān Khānum’s Dīvān (Book of Poems) observes, “At the inception of…

Introduction In 1374/1995, the Dīvān (Book of poems) of Jahān Malik Khātūn was edited and published by Pūrānʹdukht Kāshānī Rād and Kāmil Ahmadʹpūr. Despite being the most extensive collection of poetry by a woman—and a royal…

Introduction Rābiꜥah bint Kaʿb Quzdārī was a poet who lived in the AH 4th/10th century. She has been referred to by various names, including “bint Kaʿb,”1Muhammad ibn ʿUmar al-Rādūyānī, Tarjumān al-balāghah [Interpreter of eloquence], ed….

“Border art deals with shifting identities, border crossings, and hybridism,” —Gloria Anzaldúa  …

Prologue Traveling from Tehran to Kerman, as one approaches the province, the desert landscape becomes increasingly expansive, the villages more scattered, the sun more intense, and water—life’s essential resource—ever scarcer. The resilient inhabitants of this…

  Figure 1. Portrait of Zhālah Isfahānī. Image source: Jaleh Esfahani Cultural Foundation. The poet known throughout her career as Zhālah Isfahānī (1300–1386/1921–2007) was born in Isfahan and officiallyregistered as Itil Sultānī. In her autobiography…

Introduction Much of what is known about Īrān‎ʹdukht Taymūrtāsh (1295–1370/1916–1991) comes from the influence of her father, ʿAbd al-Husayn Taymūrtāsh (1261–1312/1882–1933), who played a key role in the transition of power from the Qajar dynasty…

1. Introduction Half of human society is composed of women; however, the patriarchal structure of the world has historically provided them with fewer opportunities and limited access to the tools necessary for demonstrating their abilities….

Parvīn Dawlatābādī: Life and Works Parvīn Dawlatābādī (1303–1387/1924–2008) was born in Dawlatabad, a town in the city of Isfahan. Her mother, Fakhr Gītī, served as the principal of the Nāmūs School in Isfahan, while her…

To Vahīd Amīnīzādah Yazdī and their Zhīvār Introduction Pastoral poetry emerged from the contradiction between the urban and the rural, fueled by the duality of culture and nature, complexity and simplicity, the real and the…

Introduction Shahīn Hannānah, the contemporary poet, writer, journalist, songwriter, and painter, was born on Day 3, 1319/December 24, 1940, in Sari, in northern Iran, to a father from Tehran and a mother from Luristan. Some…

Introduction One significant outcome of Iran’s encounter with Western thought, beginning in the early 14th/20th century, was the emergence and growing participation of women in scientific, social, cultural, political and artistic fields. During the Qajar…

Introduction Classical Persian literature, up until the Constitutional era, is predominantly patriarchal, with women primarily objectified as beloved figures or symbols of beauty, while their roles as intellectuals or pioneers of literary styles and movements…

Introduction Is there such a thing as feminine or masculine literature?1This article acknowledges the diversity of sexual identities and orientations. However, it specifically addresses the binary categories of male and female. This focus does not…

Introduction This article explores the life and work of Marvā Nabīlī, an overlooked yet significant figure in modern Iranian art, cinema, and poetry. Known for her deeply personal and feminist voice, Nabīlī moved fluidly between…

The Constitutional Revolution marked the beginning of a new awakening across Iran, especially in Gilan. One of the most profound impacts of this political, social, and intellectual movement was the active participation of women in…

Introduction This article examines the Safarʹnāmah-ʾi hajj, a unique pilgrimage travelogue composed in verse by Shahrʹbānū Baygum, wife of the Safavid court official Mīrzā Khalīl.1While the name Shahrʹbānū Baygum is not securely attested in any…

Introduction In the history of Persian poetry, there are few women poets, and even fewer known for their conviction of “heresy,” who have left as indelible a mark as Fātimah Baraghānī, famously known as Tāhirah…

Introduction Rawyā Taftī [Roya Tafti] is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Iranian poetry, emerging from the postmodern literary scene of the 1370s/1990s alongside poets influenced by Rizā Barāhanī and the “Language Poetry…