Homaira Nakhat Dastgirzada
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Sofia University
Homaira Nakhat Dastgirzada حمیرا نکهت دستگیرزاده | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 May 1960 (26/27 Sowr 1339) Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Died | 4 September 2020 (aged 60) Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Alma mater | Kabul University Sofia University |
| Known for | Poetry |
Homaira Nakhat Dastgirzada (Persian:حمیرا نکهت دستگیرزاده) (17 May 1960 - 4 September 2020), best known as Nakhat, was a well known Afghan poet. She wrote numerous pieces of Persian literature that were "very lyrical, with a lot of imagery."[1] Dastgirzada was nicknamed the Blue Poet of Afghanistan (شاعر آبی افغانستان)[2]
Homaira Nakhat Dastgirzada was born at Masturat Hospital in Kabul.[3] Her mother was from Herat, a traditionally popular city of Persian literature.[4] Dastgirzada started writing poems aged twelve, which would later be published in magazines.[1] She would eventually produce literary and artistic programs for Afghan National Radio and Television in 1983.[5] She achieved a doctorate in Persian literature at the University of Sofia, Bulgaria.[5] She played a key role in establishing literary program to students in universities and schools in Kabul,[3] and was a well known public figure.[4]
She married in 1982 and has two children, Hariwa and Hajir.[5] After the hardline Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 1996, Dastgirzada secretly set up a women's poetry club in Kabul.[4] She moved to the Netherlands in 1999, where she settled with her family in the city of Utrecht and co-founded the Association of Afghan Writers and Poets in Exile with other Dutch Afghan artists.[1]
Poetry style
Her poems were written mostly in the form of lyric poetry,[6] specifically Persian ghazal.[citation needed] Although they were deep about pain and sorrow, the main theme remained hope.[3] They were about various topics including social issues, injustice, motherhood, nostalgia of Afghanistan, and new found discoveries in the Netherlands.[6] A number of her works have been translated and published into Dutch.[5]
Many of her works also broke taboos and gave energy to Afghan women and poets.[7]