Next time you read a reviewer who says a particular book of poems by an American “takes risks,” remember this:
Despite constant dangers, Afghan women’s poetry continues to flourish. One outlet for women’s poetry is Mirman Baheer, Afghanistan’s largest literary society for women. Mirman Baheer operates in Kabul with over 100 members. Its members are generally educated and employed; they are professors, parliamentarians, journalists, and scholars.
Approximately 300 of Miram Baheer’s members live in the outlying provinces — Khost, Paktia, Maidan Wardak, Kunduz, Kandahar, Herat, and Farah — where the group functions in secret. Many who cannot safely travel to meet together listen to radio programs broadcast by Mirman Baheer and the Afghan Women’s Writing Project.
More here.
[Thanks to Ed Baker for the link]
here is the N.Y.Times article:<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/magazine/why-afghan-women-risk-death-to-write-poetry.html?pagewanted=all<br /><br />which leads me to conclude that<br />our American culture is not very deep
Joe,<br />here is the story as I recently found it:<br /><br /><br />http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2013/0722/Afghan-women-write-powerful-poetry-even-amid-war<br /><br />seems to me, as I recall, there was another article about a year or so ago… in the N.Y. Times