An accomplished South Australian poet has paid tribute to Táhirih, a 19th century Persian poet who called for the emancipation of women decades before suffragette activism in Europe.
Roshanak Amrein made her comments at the Adelaide launch of her second volume, Songs from a Far Island, an event held at the South Australia Art Gallery Auditorium on 28 October.
Dr Amrein, whose first collection of poetry, One Million Flights, was launched in 2010, was the subject of an extensive interview on the ABC Radio National program Poetica in 2011.
The presenter of Poetica, the poet Mike Ladd, launched her latest volume.
Dr Amrein dedicated the launch to Táhirih (1818-1852) who is considered to be the first prominent woman to unveil in Iran and to question political and religious orthodoxy.
Táhirih has inspired generations of women of all faiths in Iran and her influence has spread worldwide mainly because of her heroic role in Baha’i history, exemplifying the Faith’s principle of the equality of women and men.
Dr Amrein speaks up for Iranian women and salutes their courage in working to obtain the human rights that have been taken away from them and others in Iran.
“Iranian women are hardworking and educated; they are very opinionated and very artistic. They have remained very much part of the society despite 33 years of oppression,” she said.
Born in Iran in 1974, Dr Amrein came as a refugee to Australia in 1994 after experiencing persecution as a Baha’i, including being denied entry into university because of her religion. Because they were Baha’is, her uncle was executed, her mother was fired as a teacher, and her brothers had to flee the country.
She spoke little English when she arrived, but repeated Year 12 and qualified as a dentist by 2000 and now has her own practice in Adelaide.