Mina Assadi

Mina Assadi (Persian: مینا اسدی; born March 12, 1943) is an Iranian-born poet, author, journalist and songwriter who lives in exile in Stockholm, Sweden.

Mina Assadi
مینا اسدی
Born	(1943-03-12) 12 March 1943 Sari, Iran
Citizenship	Iranian, Swedish
Occupation	Poet

Author

Assadi wrote her debut book, a collection of poems named Minas Gift (Armanghane Mina), at the age of 18. Thereafter she worked as a journalist for several well-known Iranian magazines, for example, Kayhan. She has written 14 books in total, the book Who Throws Rocks (Che kasi sang miandazad) attracting the most attention.

She is known for writing about controversial and provocative subjects, especially when she describes the fight against the Iranian government. In 2007 she wrote the poem called "Pimps" (Djakesha). It caused a lot of discussion for being too vulgar. The poem is about those who live in Iran and in exile who have forgotten the struggle.

Songwriter

Assadi has also written songs for Iranian singers like Ebi ("Halah"), Dariush ("Zendegi yek bazieh" and "Ahay javoon"), Hayedeh ("Onkeh yek roozi barayeh man khoda bod"), Giti ("Oje parvaz"), Ramesh ("To aftabi, to baroni") and Nooshafarin ("Koh he ghavei") and Afshin ("delam az ru nemire) to name a few.

Reception

Ten days before the Iranian cultural personality and singer Fereydoun Farrokhzad was murdered in Germany on August 7, 1992, he had a poetry evening. The evening was interspersed with poems, songs and political statements. There, Fereydoun compared his late sister, the contemporary poet Forough Farrokhzad, to Mina Assadi. A statement that was filmed and became the last video with Fereydoun before his death.

“In the time we live in, there are other Iranian poets like Forough as well… Simin Daneshvar, Simin Behbahani, Mina Assadi to name a few. In Stockholm, Sweden, where Mina Assadi is located I asked all the intellectuals in the hall, 500-600 Iranians, why they treat Mina Assadi badly? For Forough that is no longer alive you gather, but you pay little attention to Mina Assadi who is still alive… she is also a Forough… with white hair, without any makeup, she lives a painfully difficult life in exile… but no one pays attention to her and instead they down her. Have you ever heard that there was a memorial evening to honor Mina Assadi? Have you heard of one? Neither have I. She is a poet of the Persian language. One of the great female poets of our time.”

Mina Assadi has also been compared to other Persian poets like Simin Behbahani and Parvin E'tesami and Swedish poets Karl Vennberg and Edith Södergran.

Personal life

In 1996, she received a Hellman/Hammett Grant from Human Rights Watch of New York City, U.S.

Sources

• R M Chopra, "Eminent Poetesses of Persian", Iran Society, Kolkata, 2010.
• "Mina Assadi is the Forough Farrokhzad of today"

See also

• Leila Kasra
• List of Iranian women
• Persian literature

External links

• Official website