Eastern Kurdistan
Poetry is important for Iranian Kurds, because their position is made difficult by the ideology and oppression of Iran. The culture of Iranian Kurdistan is close to Iraqi Kurdistan's culture. Modern Kurdish language poetry in Iranian Kurdistan came from the Kurdish poetry of modern Iraqi Kurdistan and from modern Persian language poetry. The most important poets are Sware Ilkhanizadeh, Fateh Sheikh, Ali Hasaniani and Solayman Chireh. After the Republic of Mahabad fell in 1946, three important Iranian Kurdish poets moved to Iraqi Kurdistan: Abdurrahman Sharafkandi (known as Hazhar); Muhammad Amin Shiekholeslami (known as Hemin); and Khalid Hisami (known as Hedi). Iraqi Kurdish poetry was most important for Iranian Kurdish poets in the 1980s. From the 1990s, newer poets like Azad Rostami and Behzad Kordestani used newer forms in their poetry. Omid Warzandeh, Raza Alipour, Kambiz Karimi, Jalal Malaksha and Saleh Suzani are now among the poets of Iranian Kurdistan.