On April 26, 2024, the Iran 1400 Project spoke with Dr. Zhinia Noorian about her book “Parvin Etesami in the Literary and Religious Context of Twentieth-Century Iran: A Female Poet’s Challenge to Patriarchy.” In her presentation, Dr. Noorian discussed Etesami’s life poetry, politics, socio-political engagements, and transgressive innovations. She also explored Etesami’s lasting popularity in the patriarchal Muslim-Iranian culture, her authorship in relation to gender, and the reception of her poems in school curricula. She addressed various questions in the Q&A, commenting on the lack of in-depth scholarly analyses of Etesami’s work, the contemporary relevance of her poetry, and the influential role of poetry in present-day Iran.
Zhinia Noorian received her PhD in Persian and Iranian Studies from Utrecht University in 2023. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher for the ERC Advanced Grant, 'Beyond Sharia: The Role of Sufism in shaping Islam', in the department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Utrecht University.
