local author Julia Older wins an award and releases a new book of poetry

Good things come to those who wait—or those who spend nine years working at it.

Julia Older’s novel, “This Desired Place,” a painstakingly researched work of fiction about the Isles of Shoals, recently received the gold medal for Best Northeast Regional Fiction from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. The book, released last year, is the second in what Older calls her Isles of Shoals trilogy. In the trilogy’s first segment, “Island Queen,” she wrote about Isles of Shoals resident and writer Celia Thaxter. Older just released a new book of original poetry, “Tahirih Unveiled.”

The story of Tahirih of Persia (1818-1854) was one Older stumbled upon many years back. Beautiful and headstrong, Tahirih (pronounced Ta-hear-ah) was a religious prodigy who often lectured at her father’s mosque. When she prophesied the coming of the 1,000-year-old prophet, Bab, Tahirih was labeled a heretic by family and friends alike and sent into exile. She resided in the mountains, where she taught and wrote poetry. Not long after, followers of Bab were rounded up and executed by the hundreds by the Persian government. Although given a reprieve by the Shah, Tahirih was later murdered for her beliefs, burned at the stake along with most of her poems. Older says only seven poems survived, but many more of Tahirih’s stories live on, preserved in folk songs, which Older calls “poetic justice.” From the poem “Remnants & Tatters”:

I hold the veil to my mouth.
The gauze flutters with inspiration:
     “Sisters, you could suffocate to death
      and not move the men one jot.
      At this very moment
      your brothers are determined
      to sell you out for their own prejudice.”

An old woman bursts into sobs.
Tired of playing this game
of compromise the men are forcing,
I rip my veil in half.
 
In “Tahirih Unveiled,” Older captures her vision of Tahirih’s fierce independence. The poems, written in the first person, guide the reader through Tahirih’s life. Her voice is strong as she tells of her childhood, the injustices she suffered for her beliefs and her gender, and her refusal to back down. It is rumored that, upon being captured, Tahrih cried out, “Kill me if you like, but you can’t stop the emancipation of women.” 

In researching the story, Older found many similarities between Tahirih and Celia Thaxter, of whom she had written almost 30 years prior. Thaxter and Tahirih lived and wrote during the same time period. Both married quite young and gave birth to three sons. They were both eventually betrayed by their husbands, causing their solitary living conditions.Older says the two women’s strong independence was a very important part of what she wanted to portray. In “Interrogation,” Older expresses her idea of Tahirih’s last thoughts:
 
I want to say:
“This morning
I am kneeling on your prayer mat,
and although it comes as no surprise
to see you burn, I’m amused to find
you’re so deceived you’ll still believe
you’re on the road to Paradise!”
 
But the Sardar appears
with a cord in his unclean hands
and with trembling lips I ask,
 
       “What have you done to my poems?”

When asked if she was working on the third and final book in her Isles of Shoals trilogy, Older said publicity from her recent award and promotion of her latest book of poetry have kept her too busy to think about it.

Older lives and works in southern New Hampshire. “This Desired Place” is available through Appledore Books at www.appledorebooks.com and at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth. Copies of “Tahirih Unveiled” are available through www.turningpointbooks.com or by ordering them through a local independent bookseller.