Fatemeh Ekhtesari

Fatemeh Ekhtesari is a poet, editor, human rights activist, and midwife from Iran. She is part of the Iranian literary movement 'Postmodern Ghazal' which is seen as the most radical poetic group in contemporary Iran. Ekhtesari has been the Editor-in-Chief of several literary magazines. Her poetry, fiction and non-fiction work explore issues of sexuality, religion, gender, and the struggle for women's rights in Iran and beyond.

In Iran, Ekhtesari published more than a dozen collections of poetry with the first book (Yek bahse feministi ghabl az pokhtane sibzaminiha (Feminist discussions before cooking potatoes) published in 2010. After it was discovered that Ekhtesari has re-written omitted words by hand to avoid censorship, Iranian authorities banned the distribution of the book.

Since leaving Iran, Ekthesari has published the 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 collection Vi overlever ikke and Hun er ikke kvinne.

Ekhtesari was the Editor-in-Chief of the postmodern magazine Hamin farad bud (It was just tomorrow) until it closed in 2008. She is currently the Editor-in-Cheif of the online literature magazine Independent Iranian Literature.

In her work as a women's rights activist, Ekthesari explores issues such as gender-based violence and discrimination and has written numerous articles for websites such as Radio Zamaneh on topics such as the gendering of language, women's sexual liberation, and artistic freedom. Trained in media production, Ekthesari has also made a feature-length documentary titled Unpublishable and two short documentary films, titled Still and The Ways‍

Ekhtesari has won numerous awards for her writing, including the Jaleh Esfahani Prize at a poetry festival in London in 2013, and the Khorshid Prize in 2012, awarded to female Iranian poets.

In 2017, Fatemeh Ekthesari took up an ICORN residency in Lillehammer, Norway.

To learn more about Ekthesari and her work, you can follow her on Instagram and X/Twitter.