I requested an eARC of this book completely on a whim, only knowing that the topic was something I needed to know more about. I checked out the graphic novel 'Woman, Life, Freedom' by Marjane Satrapi and read it just before this to give myself as much context as possible.

This collection of poems is raw, complex, beautiful, and enraging. Every single name mentioned sent me to Google to know more about these brave souls, to be able to witness and remember their stories. These words, and the people that inspired them, capture the strength and power of feminism in its truest form.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Naturally, I adored this collection. I loved the context often added to the contents of the poems-- about the women on the front lines, about the culture and how the metaphors are imbibed with even greater meaning. This is a great collection and I enjoyed the whole thing.

Woman Life Freedom: Poems for the Iranian Revolution curated by Banco Ban and Cy Strom is a collection of poems by women regarding the Iranian revolution. It's not your typical poetry book. It is raw and unapologetic and will evoke powerful emotions.

Trigger Warning: Sex crimes, violence, multiple types of abuse, war

The editors divided the book into five sections: Beginnings, Defiance, Struggle, Witness, Futures.
Beginnings: Introduces the origins and start of the revolution.
Defiance: Poems that embody the spirit of resistance and rebellion.
Struggle: Describes the hardships and challenges faced.
Witness: Bear witness to the events and experiences.
Futures: Envisions a better future with justice, equality, and freedom.

These poems are honest and brave. I refuse to even try to be critical. I normally do not read poetry, but knowing the subject matter, I wanted to read this. At times, I was angry; at others, I cried so hard I couldn't read anymore. By the end, I was proud of their resilience and bravery. These poems convey emotion through symbols, oxymorons, myths, religion, and culture. The editors had the foresight to add notes to help explain these, so the impact isn't lost.

Woman Life Freedom: Poems for the Iranian Revolution is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the feminist revolution in Iran. Anyone interested in women's rights, equality, and perseverance will also want to read this.

Be warned of triggers!

This book is a powerful reminder of the importance of freedom and justice and poetry's role in raising awareness and inspiring change.

I’ve gone back and forth on my review of this anthology. I think it really highlights the differences in experience for Kurds like myself, other ethnicities in Iran, and those viewing the revolution from an outside perspectives.

I appreciate the use of Jina Amini’s Kurdish name, though many poems chose to use Mahsa over Jina. Although brief, I also appreciated that there was a statement acknowledging that Women Life Freedom was originally a Kurdish phrase. I think it would be nice to include further history about the phrases origin in Northern Kurdistan in the early 2000s. And including the Kurdish version on the cover, as the phrase and protests began with the Kurds mourning their Kurdish sister.

The poems are beautiful and there are some that I feel properly acknowledge the Kurdish experience through the revolution so I want to give this 3.5 rounded to a 4 stars, but with the strong caveat that some of these poems also (like many non-Kurds do from day to day) whether willfully/or out of ignorance continue violence against Kurds through erasure when they speak over Kurdish pain, translate our words without proper acknowledgment, and ignore pleas from Jina’s own family to use her Kurdish name.

My sincere apologies. I clicked the "read now" button before I realized this title wasn't available in Kindle format. Because of visual impainment, I do all my non-print reading on a Kindle. I do understand, however, that Kindle doesn't allow titles to "retire" in the way other formats do, so I do appreciate why it's not offered in my preferred format. I will try to be more consistent about looking at available formats before requesting or going for "read now."

I'm giving this book five stars because I have to include a star rating to submit this form. Five stars is definitely what I was anticipating when I tried to access this book.