Cultuurhaven x Persian Poetry #4

18.04.2026: 14:00-17:00

West Den Haag in de vml. Amerikaanse ambassade, Lange Voorhout 102, Den Haag

Free admission with registration: RSVP tickets

On April 18, the fourth edition of the Persian Poetry Afternoon will take place in the Cultuurhaven at West, organized by Eli. On this afternoon, the Auditorium of the former American Embassy will be dedicated to the beauty and resilience of both Farsi and Dutch poetry.

For this edition, Shahzoda Nazarova Samarqandi (1975) is invited to present her literature. Samarqandi is a Tajik author, poet, and journalist, born in Uzbekistan and currently living in the Netherlands. Her literary work lies at the intersection of politics and feminism and is known for giving a powerful voice to women from Central Asia.

In her literature, the female experience takes center stage, often in relation to migration, identity, and social constraints. Her “taboo-breaking” debut novel ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ explores the tensions between motherhood, labor, and autonomy in the conservative Tajik society, which has shaped her identity as a writer. She later gained international recognition with ‘Mothersland’, in which personal identity and collective memory converge against the backdrop of the advance of the Soviet Union in Central Asia, as well as regional climate issues such as the drying up of the Aral Sea.

Samarqandi writes, among other languages, in Tajik (Persian), but due to her outspoken criticism of patriarchal structures and her progressive views on cultural and social issues, her work is often censored in her region of origin. Nevertheless, her work has been translated into multiple languages, and she is internationally recognized as one of the most influential voices in Tajik literature and within the contemporary Central Asian diaspora.

You are warmly welcome from 14:00 in the Auditorium at West Den Haag for this special afternoon. Admission is free with registration.

Please note: the main language of this event will largely be Farsi.