Book Talk - Mihrî Hatun: Perfomance, Gender-Bending and Subversion in Ottoman Intellectual History

The early modern Ottoman poet Mihrî Hatun (1460-1515) succeeded in drawing an admiring audience and considerable renown during a time when few women were accepted into the male-dominated intellectual circles. Her poetry collection is among the earliest bodies of women's writing in the Middle East and Islamicate literature, providing an exceptional vantage point on intellectual history. Havlioglu's astute and nuanced portrait will give audience members a fascinating glimpse into the life of a woman poet in a highly gendered society and suggests that women have been part of intellectual history long before the modern period.

Lunch will be provided