Essmat Sophie

Essmat Sophie (Asima) is an award-winning author, film director, researcher, translator, and activist. Born and raised in the Kurdish region of Iran, she later lived in the United States for several years before settling in Norway.
She holds a master’s degree in English Literature, American and British Studies, from the University of Oslo, another master's degree in Information Science from the University of Oslo and Tehran University, and a third master's degree in Social Science from Salt Lake City University.
Her latest books include Dancing Amid Fire, Rising Above Ruins (May 2023), Last Day of Autumn (2021), and In the Eye of the Storm (2013), which won the Ordknappen literary award in Norway. Her short story "Setar on the Mud Wall" is featured in the anthology Sleeping in the Courtyard: Contemporary Kurdish Writers in Diaspora, published by the University of Arkansas Press. This collection highlights the voices of Kurdish women and nonbinary writers from around the world. She has also translated books and articles from English into other languages, including Women’s Journey from Shadow to Light, which she translated from English to Persian. Additionally, she has translated poetry by Sherko Bekas from Kurdish to Norwegian. Her writings have been featured in academic databases such as ScienceDirect and Academy Search Premier, as well as in various literary periodicals.
As a prolific filmmaker, Sophie directed and produced the animated short film Dancing Amid Fire, Rising Above Ruins (2023), based on her latest novel. She received multiple awards for best animation director, with her film earning accolades at prestigious festivals, including the Cannes Film Awards in France, The Female Eye Film Festival in Canada, the Stockholm City Film Festival, the Västerås Film Festival in Sweden, the Nordic Star Film Festival, the European Short Awards, and the Toronto International Women Film Festival. She served as the writer, producer, and director of the film.
Sophie has delivered speeches on various topics, including the Iranian women's movement, the struggles and achievements of Kurdish women, human rights, writing as resistance, and more.
She is the founder and leader of EchoBridge Vision, an organization that promotes empowerment, gender equality, and freedom of expression through art and culture, with a focus on women and marginalized groups. EchoBridge Vision provides a platform for creatives and activists to foster social change, democracy, and multicultural understanding.
In Norway, she has worked and conducted research in various fields. She also served for several years as the leader of Flerkult (Multicultur), a group dedicated to multicultural library services. This initiative aims to increase awareness of these services, advocate for political and financial support, encourage knowledge-sharing, and promote professional development and networking. Her master’s thesis explored multiculturalism and public libraries as meeting spaces for immigrant women. As an expert in the field, she has dedicated many years to research on multiculturalism and immigrant women.
Sophie has given speeches on a variety of subjects, including the Iranian women's movement, the struggle and achievements of Kurdish women, human rights, writing and resistance, and many other topics.