Golestan Hatami

Golestan Hatami is a 43-year-old refugee from Ilam, in the Kurdish region of Iran. She fled persecution from the Islamic Republic in Iran, arrived by boat in Australia in 2013, and was imprisoned on Nauru. She was evacuated to Australia in 2018 for an abortion due to the deterioration of her mental health condition in the offshore detention regime on Nauru. She experienced two debilitating curettages. Her poem is a reflection of her exposure to the loss of her two fetuses due to traumatic experiences on Nauru. She started writing on Nauru following her exposure to living under officers’ suicide watch and being on strike. “It was a miracle that I survived from psychical death, despite my struggle to survive psychology. Only writing is safe and soothing,” Golestan says.