In White Ink

Mimi Khalvati’s first book of poems takes its title from Helene Cixous’ observation that women write ‘in white ink’. The resonances of this phrase are explored in many of these poems. Writing in her adoptive mother tongue, Khalvati explores loss and recovery of country, language, family and power. As an Iranian and a woman who has lived mainly in the West, she discovers a hitherto silenced voice, sited in ‘the feminine’. While evoking male/female relationships, the poems affirm the centrality of women and their relationships and celebrate, too, with candor and gentleness, the power of motherhood. Much of the work draws on the experience of the Iranian diaspora and on early childhood memories, serving to undermine current Iranian/Islamic stereotypes. Using traditional and free verse, color and lyricism in imagery and rhythm, Khalvati achieves a reconciliation of her various worlds.