Bibliography: BIB30077

web link	bahai-library.com/bibliography/BIB30077
reference type	Journal Article
title	Feeling into empathic poetry … through the prison poems of Mahvash Sabet
journal	New Writing : The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing
author	Geers, April-Rose
year	2023
date	2023
epub date	20220602
issue	2
volume	20
abstract	In this essay, I offer a response to conclusions in affect theory that empathy inspired by the reading of a text is unlikely to result in direct action for change. I balance my understanding of empathy and activism in poetry with Lévinasian theories of ethical relationality and moral responsibility. I discuss the unique quality of a collection of prison poems by Persian poet and Bahá'í leader Mahvash Sabet, revealing her remarkable acts of compassion for her fellow prisoners. I explore how her poems awakened my own voice as a poet and an advocate, taking into account the problematic power hierarchies of geographical distance and cultural difference. Finally, I reflect on the way empathic poetry can provide a shared language capable of reaching across geographical and cultural divides.
language	English
keywords	SABET, MAHVASH. PRISON POEMS; POETRY; EMPATHY
URL	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14790726.2022.2076886
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1080/14790726.2022.2076886
pages	204–217
Legal note	11.