The Role of Female Poets in Modern Kurdish Literature

Abstract

This paper focuses upon some of the female poets in Kurdish literature who have played a major role in establishing Kurdish women’s poetry and their poetic texts, and how their voices become deeper and more feminine. The study will encompass the earliest Kurdish female poet from the classic period - Masture-y Ardalani (1805 –1848), one of the most prominent Kurdish poets - and four poets from the modern period, namely Diya Ciwan (b. 1953), Kazhal Ahmed (b. 1967), Nezend Begikhani (b. 1964), and Mahabad Qaradaghi (b. 1966). The existence of feminine poetry in Kurdish literature is considered new born, but in fact the real emergence of women’s poetry in Kurdish literature dates back to the early 1990s, after the liberation of southern Kurdistan from the Saddam Hussein regime. Additionally, it is important to note that the Kurdish political and creative history is not without women’s presence.