Fatemeh Ekhtesari, an Iranian poet, artist, activist, and midwife, fled Iran in 2015 after being sentenced to 99 lashes and 11.5 years in prison due to her writings. As a refuge, she became a guest writer in Lillehammer in 2017. Currently, she aims to share her story with high school students in Innlandet.
Ekhtesari, born in 1986, will discuss life in Iran, addressing topics such as censorship, oppression, hijab requirements, and her early literary works. She will delve into her activism, recounting incidents like attending a football match disguised as a man. The narrative will extend to her escape to Turkey with the aid of smugglers after the prison sentence in 2015 and her subsequent journey to Lillehammer as a guest writer in 2017. Ekhtesari will also touch upon continuing her fight for a revolution in her homeland from Norway, specifically advocating for women’s rights sparked by the murder of Mahsa Amini in the fall of 2022.
Additionally, Ekhtesari plans to share her experiences of arriving in Norway, starting anew with a different language and culture, and navigating her way into Norwegian literature with readership both in Persian and Norwegian. Alongside her on stage will be her Norwegian translator and editor, Johanne Fronth-Nygren, a poet with extensive experience working with Norsk PEN and guest writers. Through conversation and poetry readings in Persian and Norwegian, the two will convey Fatemeh Ekhtesari’s compelling journey and poetry.
Leave a Reply