Δευτέρα 5 Δεκεμβρίου 2016

Dr. Hiva Panahi talked about her poetry and life in NYC


Ladies and Gentlemen,



I am deeply moved and overjoyed being here in NY with all of you. I'm also excited to be in the conference room of the workers' union which brings forth ideas  that have been a source of inspiration for the whole world.

Dear friends, brothers, and sisters, I come from my Kurdish homeland, which has been divided during the last century by the major forces into four separate entities in four different countries. My people, the Kurds, are now split and divided in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. In every part of Kurdistan, my people are forbidden to speak our language and are stripped of our natural right to practice our culture. I know it seems so incredible and extreme but this is the tragic truth. It's like forbidding a rose from being a rose. Kurdish people are strong-willed and have deep-rooted beliefs and aspirations for freedom and respect for life. This is why these superpowers did not succeed in carrying out their evil plan of genocide, the plan to destroy the Kurdish culture.

My people not only resisted and invented ways to survive but they also created a high spiritual identity. I come from an intellect which has been continuously under harsh persecution to this day. Generations of writers, poets and artists have been sacrificing their lives for the Kurdish culture.



As a Kurd of the Diaspora, I have also lived 17 years of my life in Greece. Those years have been a gift as I was able to connect with the highest institutions of the generous Greek culture and its spiritual traditions. I managed to give back to my new country my meager intellectual gifts as a poet and as a scientist, but life was still difficult. Being invisible in intellectual spaces, I suffered for many years under the persecution. As a result I lost everything.


During all those dark years, my poetry was like a light coming from angels to save me; my writing brought me here,  became my wings; became my spiritual passport to the United States and here rise again.

   My wish is that cultural creations such as poetry, will give mental and spiritual strength towards stability throughout the world. Poetry must remain as the immortal logos, like light... 

Dr. Hiva Panahi, Book party 
4.12.2016, NYC    

A Woman from Ashes

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