|
Abdullah
Hussain
Hussain
rose to fame with his novel. udaas naslein He learnt his
craft from men like hemingway and camus. But he is not
imitative His strong realism earthliness and sense of
history is something rare in Urdu.
|
 |
He sees his characters as permanent exiles who de- rive their
strenght as well as traumas from theirsense of alien- ation
come to violent ends and are often at adds with their sur- roundings.
His other works include Nashaib Qaid Nadaar log.
Ahmad
Nadeem Qasmi
The
poet, Short-story writer and columnist was born in Sargodha
district. He edited several literary magazines and wrote
columns on social and political issues for several newspapers.
|
 |
Editor of dialy Imroze from 1953 to 1959, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi
has been the editor and publisher of a prestigious literary
magazine, Funoon, since 1963. He's also working as director
of literary organisation, Majlis-i-Taraqqi adab, Lahore since
1947. Qasmi began writing under the influence of Progressive
Writing Movement before partition, but braved all changes and
kept up with his writing. a versatile writer, he was written
extensively both in prose and verse. He depicts rural life of
the Punjab with all its romance and proverty and captures with
the sad plight of the village dweller. Imtiaz Ali Taj called
him "Premchand of Punjab"
Ali
Abbas Jalapuri
The subsuming ideological framework clamped down on learning
in Pakistan has been very detrimental to scholarship. Ali Abbas
Jalalpuri made concerted attempts to bring forth a distinction
between various intellectual disciples, seeing and assessing
them in their true shape rather than being treated as reflections
of dogmatic religious reality. He analysed Iqbal and categorised
him as following the tradition of scholasticism rather than
of philosophy in his Iqbal Ka Ilmul Kalam and emphasised the
significance of Wahdatul Wajood in the history of ideas expressed
through the poetic tradition of the Punjab. Ali Abbas had read
his philosophy right and therefore could relate literature,
music and religion in the context of our history in their proper
sequences. His various books are the stages of enlightenment
that he stood for and fearlessly advocate. He mapped the history
of ideas as they developed and then travlled from one culture
and civilisation to another, changing various hues. This placed
the body of ideas inherited by us in a definite perspective
as the great cross current of ideas have been treated by him
as enriching the local tradition of thinking and feeling rather
than corrupting it as has been evaluated by the official ideologues
of the country
Ashfaq
Ahmad
| As
a short-story writer and play-wright, Ashfaq Ahmad is
a naturalist who loves romances and nature. |
 |
His
short stories reveal that there is much more to life than misery
and woe; there is beauty and lovelines which can be best appreciated
when viewed against the background oa natural scenery. His short
story, Gaddarya (shepherd) brought him fame as great short story
writer in the generation of fiction writers that appread on
the literary scene after the creation of Pakistan. He blends
romanticism with realism in his early works. He wrote, produced
and ected in a popular weekly radio feature, Talqeen Shah, for
more than quarter of a century that became icon in Pakistan's
broadcasting history. Ashfaq Ahmad's contribution to television
drama ranges from Eik Muhabbat So Afsane, ona of the most popular
series of Pakistan Television in the early 70s, to Tota Kahani
in the 80s. Ashfaq turned to religious in his later writings.
He also worked as director of a literary organisation, Markazi
Urdu Board and Urdu Science Board, for several years.
Bano
Qudsia
| Bano
born in 1928 in Ferozepur, India and moved with her family
to Lahore during the Partition. Her father, a landlord
with a bachelors degree in agriculture, died when Bano
was very young. She attended school in Dharamsala in eastern
India before moving to Lahore. Her mother was an educationist,
and this inspired the young Bano to develop a keen interest
in academics, which turned her into a conscientious student |
 |
Her
marriage to Ashfaque Ahmad consummated the artist in her, though
she says she never discusses any of her works with her husband
nor has the writer-spouse ever tried to influence her writings.
"We work very independently. Writing a book is like bearing
a child and you do not share that with anyone. God is your only
confidante. It is also like falling in love. You keep it personal
and private."
In 1951, she completed her master's degree in Urdu from the
Government College Lahore.
Author of innumerable short stories, novelettes, television
and radio plays, besides some memorable stage plays, Bano's
writings have a strong association with life's vicissitudes
Though many term her novels and plays 'indigestible,' it is
true to say that she is one of the few contemporary Urdu writers
who have used the everyday philosophy of life as thesis her
writings. The strength of conviction in her prose is unmistakable.
Her short stories like Baz Gasht, Amar Bail, Doosra Darwaza
and Twajju ki Talib, the latter, a stimulating collection of
short stories, have mustered a vast readership. Of her novels,
none has received as much recognition as Raja Gidh which centers
around the forbidden truth. The plot builds around the symbol
of a vulture that feeds on dead flesh and carcasses. The moral
sought implies that indulgence in the forbidden leads to physical
and mental degeneration.
Bapsi
Sidhwa
Bapsi
Sindwa can truly be called a born storyteller. All four
novels Crow Eaters, The Bride, Ice-Candy Man which was
released in US under the title Cracking India and AN
American Brat are the hallmark of Sindhwa's superb writing
skills. |
 |
They have a freshness about them and see an element of humour
even in tragedy. A graduate from Kinnaird College Lahore, she
began writing in her twenties. She is the first Pakistani writer
whose novel Ice-Candy Man, a novel about Partition set in Lahore,
has been filmed by an internationally acclaimed Canadian director
Deepa Mehta, under the title Earth. In 1991 Ice-Candy Man (Cracking
India) Sindhwa's third novel, was decleard a New York Notable
Book, received the Literature Prize in Germany and was nominated
by the American Library Association as a Notable Book the same
year. She is the recipient of many national and international
recognition. Her novels have been translated into German, French,
Italian and Russian.
Faiz
Ahmad Faiz
| Faiz
Ahmad Faiz was born to a landed, educated family in Sialkot
of pre-partition Punjab on February 13, 1911. He grew
up surrounded by literature with a father who was a friend
to many writers, including Muhammad Iqbal. |
 |
His
schooling took him to Lahore where he studied Arabic and English
literature. His literary studies laid the foundation for him
to create a modern Urdu verse that took on larger social and
political issues of his times yet retained the polished style
and diction of the ghazal. His death in 1984 was a loss to the
Urdu literary world.
He
began his career as the editor of the leftist English-language
daily, Pakistan Times, as well as the managing editor for the
Urdu daily, Imroz. Although his first volume of poetry, Naqsh-e-Faryadi,
was published in Lucknow in 1941; he became widely known after
the 1952 publication of Dast-e Saba, poems written during his
imprisonment by the Pakistani Government. After the Miltary
coup led by Zia ul haq in 1979, Faiz lived in self-exile in
Beirut writing for the Afro-Asia Writers Association journal,
Lotus, until his return to Pakistan in 1982.
As
a Marxist Faiz Ahmad Faiz rejected the notion of "art for art's
sake". He has been described as a "committed" poet who used
his simple verse to probe not only beauty and love but also
humanism and justice. His imprisonment was evident in more than
his two collections of poems written during his political detention.
His translator Shiv K Kumar sees his imprisonment as a "metaphor
that embodies his poetic vision." Aside from poet, Faiz was
a journalist, songwriter, and activist.
Faiz
was a nominee for the Nobel Prize and in 1963 was the first
Asian poet to win the Lenin Peace Prize. He recorded for the
Library of Congress in Lahore in 1977.
Ghulam Ahmad Perwez
Born in Batala in the Indian Punjab, Ghulam Ahmad Pervez belonged
to a family of Chishti-Nizami sufis. His grandfather, Hakim
Maulvi Raheem Baksh, tought him Arabic and trained him in Islamic
studies. He met Allama Iqbal in Lahore and on his suggestion
got in touch with Hafiz Muhammad Jairajpuri, the scholar moulded
his views of Islam. In 1955, he retired from the post of assistant
secretary in the central secretariat in Karachi to devote himself
to the study of Islam. It was in New Delhi that he began publishing
his journal Tolu-e-Islam in 1938 at the behest of Allama Iqbal
and the Quaid-e-Azam. Through his writings in the journal, he
defended the Pakistan movement and took issue with Gandhi and
other Congress leaders.After the creation of Pakistan, Pervaz
dedicated Tolu-e-Islam to debates on the nature of Quran. The
most valuable contribution to Islamic learning were his classification
of Quranic themes and etymology of Quranic words in his book
Lughat-ul-Quran and his work on the tradition of Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) Maqam-i-Hadith. He argued that hadith can neither abrogate
nor supercede the Quran and that hadith which jibes with the
quran and does not insult the Prophet should be accepted. His
weekly lectures in Lahore attracted a lot of educated followers
as he challenged the authority of his contemporary, Maulana
Maudoodi. Pervaz's work on the Quran remains unprecedented as
a rationaal gloss in Islamic scholarship.
Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum
Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum was a teacher par exellence. As professor
of Persian he represented sound academic tradition, which was
considered the fountainhead of higher learning. Sufi Tabassum's
poetic talent encompassed three languages; Urdu, Persian and
Punjabi. He was a master of prosoby and even poets like Faiz
were constrained to consult him in the craft of poetry. His
poetry grows out of the extreme romance of the classical tradition
and the pain and suffering that the modern man has to go through.
His vast repertoire of translations into Punjabi of Urdu and
Persian poetry is also work of great merit. For about fifty
years he was one of the most prominent speaker at the various
astistic and intellectual formus, like radio, television and
the literary circles. He brought to these forums a very rich
and comprehensive worldview, which was the outcome of his vast
reading, very rich life and a vibrant personality. A man full
of life till the very end he will also be lovingly remembered
for the poems that he wrote for children. He created the immortal
character of 'Tot Batot' which has been the most constant companion
of the children.
Habib
Jalib
Habib
Jalib was a populist poet. He was a clear departure
from the mainstream Urdu poetic tradition where the
poet preferred to live in his ivory tower away from
the rough and tumble active life. |
 |
He
was in fact much closer to the Punjabi tradition where the poet
was also an activist fighting on all front, usually either landing
in jail or forced into exile.Going to jail was thus a professional
hazard because Jalib was irrepressible and could not hold back
in the face of repressive mearsures by successive government.
A totally diapossesed man, he was fearless in his confrontation
with the government and was therefore much feared by the powers
that be. He had to be populist because he was topical and engaged
the anti-people policiees in his verses which became instant
slogans and were more deadly than the deadliest of bullets.
His verses galvanised scattered opposition and inspired hope
among the common urban dwellers. These easy to understand verses
thus were more effective as their outreach was more than thar
of the more respected poets.
Hafeez
Jalandhari
Born
in Jalandhari, Indian Punjab hafeez Jalandhari migrated
to Lahore after the Pakistan. He made up for the lack
formal education with self-study and hard work and carved
his place in the poetic pantheon. |
 |
He also worked as director of Song Publicity Organisation during
the World War 11. He also established a publishing house called
Honhaar Book depot, in Lahore. His fame rests on his long poem,
Shahnama-i-Islam, which in the manner of Fridouse's Shahnama,
is a record of the glorious history of Islam in verse. He also
wrote the national anthem of Pakistan. He is unique in Urdu
poetry for the enchanting melody of his voice and lilting rhythms
of his songs and lyrics. His poetry generally deals with romantic,
religious, patriotic and natural themes. He chooses his themes,
images and tunes from the subcontinent and his language is a
fine blend of Hindi and Urdu diction, reflecting the composite
culture of South Asia.
Kishwar
Naheed
Born
in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1940, Kishwar
Naheed is one of the best- known feminist poets of Pakistan.
In a field dominated by traditional male voices, Naheed,
writing in Urdu, was a pioneer of a new, distinctively
feminine voice and has produced over the span of thirty
years a body of work that is innovative, defiant, political,
and self-aware. |
 |
Her poetry dared to go beyond the prescribed accepted 'feminine'
realms to include hitherto unmined fields of female sexuality,
politics, and social issues. In an interview with Rakhshanda
Jalil for the Indian daily The Hindu (11/4/2001), Kishwar Naheed
explained her writing as an attempt to redefine the man-woman
relationship. Rejecting being branded as a radical or a bohemian,
she declared herself "a realist" who "never let herself get
pushed around by men or by circumstances."
Born
into a traditional family that moved to Lahore, Pakistan during
the 1947 Partition of the sub-continent, Naheed had to fight
to pursue an education in a milieu where women did not go to
school and "were not allowed to speak to boys." She studied
at home and obtained a high school diploma through correspondence
courses, but went on to receive a masters degree in Economics
from Punjab University.
Naheed's
first collection of poetry, Lab-i goya, published in 1968, won
the prestigious Adamjee Prize of Literature. This collection
of traditional ghazals was followed by a collection of nazms,
by translations of foreign poetry, and by many works in free
verse. She also wrote for children and for the daily Jang, published
her autobiography in 1994 (it appeared the following year in
India), and in 2001 saw her collected poetic work released in
a 1312 page volume entitled Dasht-i qais men Lail'a. Her daily
columns in Jang were also collected and published in 1999. Her
poetry has been translated into English and Spanish and her
famous poem "We, sinful women" gave its title to a path-breaking
anthology of contemporary Urdu feminist poetry translated and
edited by Rukhsana Ahmad, published in London by The Women's
Press in 1991.
Kishwar
Naheed has held the position of Director General of Pakistan
National Council of the Arts before her retirement, has edited
a prestigious literary magazine Mah-i naw, and has founded an
organization named Hawwa (Eve) whose goal is to help homebound
women become financially independent through cottage industries
and the marketing of handicrafts.
The
Library of Congress has twenty-five works by Naheed in its collection.
She read for the Library in Lahore on December 13, 1977.
Qurratulain
Hyder
Born
in 1927 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, Qurratulain Hyder
is one of the most celebrated of Urdu fiction writers.
A trendsetter in Urdu fiction, she began writing at
a time when the novel was yet to take deep roots as
a serious genre in the poetry-oriented world of Urdu
literature. She shook it out of its stagnation and purged
it of its obsession with fantasy, romance and frivolous
realism. |
 |
She instilled in it a new sensibility and brought into its fold
strands of thought and imagination hitherto unexplored.
A
prolific writer, she has so far written some 12 novels and novellas,
four collections of short stories and has done a significant
amount of translation of classics. Aag Ka Darya (River of Fire),
her magnum opus, is a landmark novel that explores the vast
sweep of time and history. It tells a story that moves from
the fourth century BC to the post-Independence period in India
and Pakistan, pausing at the many crucial epochs of history.
She
received the Jnanpith Award in 1989 for her novel Aakhir-e-Shab
ke Hamsafar (Travellers Unto the Night). She received the Sahitya
Akademi Award, in 1967, Soviet Land Nehru Award, 1969, Ghalib
Award, 1985, Jnanpith Award, 1989, and was conferred Padma Shri
by the Government of India for her outstanding contribution
to Urdu literature. She served as a guest lecturer at the universities
of California, Chicago, Wisconsin, and Arizona.Her books have
been translated into English and other languages. The Library
of Congress has twenty-one books by her.
Manto
Sa‘adat
Hasan Manto (1912-1955) is the author of Urdu social
realist literature in terms of the style and content
of his writing, and in terms of his ambiguous relationship
with the Progressive Writers’ Movement. |
 |
Both
Chughtai and Manto were influenced by Soviet socialist literature
and employed styles that were explicitly realistic in their
representation of character and the human condition. However,
both authors were also greatly influenced by Freud’s work,
which inspired them to write openly about aspects of human sexuality.
Ultimately it was this focus on sexuality that alienated him
from the Progressive Writers’Movement, despite his continued
devotion to social realism.
Mushtaq
Ahmad Yousafi
Born in Tonk, rajistan, Mushtaq Ahmad Yousafi graduated from
Aligarh University and worked for several banks before the president
of the united bank Ltd in 1974. Yousafi is arguably one of the
most original humourist in Urdu. His carefully crafted prose
is a marvel in lucidity. While the situation and characters
in his writings are funny enough, there is nothing vitriolic
about them. There is considerable compassion in his point of
view and a healthy tolerance of human foibles. His first book
was made up of sketches but gradually his writing has become
a composite genre in which sketch-writing is generally mixed
with fiction, realism and humour. His book, Aab-i-Gum, is a
milestone in Urdu prose.
Najam Hussain Syed
| when
Urdu became the medium of instruction in the Punjab, the
educated Punjabis switched to Urdu and their monther tongue
was reduced to being the language of the street as higher
discourse wall conducted in either Urdu or English. Punjabi
poetry too stoped to grow as most of the poets started
to express themselves in Urdu. |
 |
Poetry which was streetwise with sotck phrases and stock sentiments
Contonued to be wrutten or recited orally in the villages and
less educated sections of the urben population. The concerns
which were ushered in the changing realities of colonialism
and then freedom in a changed world remained outside the purview
of Punjabi poetry. Najam Hussain Syed's Punjabi poetry is a
departure from the stock imagery, metre and sensilility because
it explores areas of experience which have evolved in a much
larger context. The poet is actuly aware of his contemporary
world and also is sensitive to the rich heritage and tradition
of the last seven hundred years of poetry. The great divide
imposed by language between the urban and rural, the illiterate
and the highly educated has been addressed by his poetry. In
the plays too important characters and events of punjabi histary
have been treated in a manner as to represent the dilemma of
commitment and authentic existence.
Nasir Kazmi,
Born in Ambala (Indian Punjab) Nasir Kazmi migrated to Lahore
after the partition. He worked for Radio Pakistan, Lahore and
earned fame as a poet of ghazal (lyric) but lived in extreme
poverty. Bearing the marks of Mir Taqi Mir, Nasir Kazmi developed
Urdu ghazal into a modern art-form, transmiting the classical
tradition into something modern and uinque. His lyrics transformed
the traditional pessimism of the lyric into an expression of
the sorrow, despair and anguish of the modern man. His poetry
expresses the tragedly of the bloodshed and migration at the
time of partition of the sub-continent.
Noon
Meem Rashid
It
was said by the begining of the century that Urdu poetry
had lost its essence as it got bogged down in the craft
of versification. Many attempts had been made to liberate
it from the restrictions of stylisation but it was Rashid
who gave it the impetus of breaking away from the traditional
pattern of prosody. |
 |
Inspired by the European poets and egged on by his teacher,
Patras Bokhari, Rashid dwelled on the blank verse intraducing
it successfully to dispel the widely held view that our poetry
was not possible without it. He was part of the new movement
that brought in modern sensibility to support the experimentation
in the formal patterns of poetry. The theme of his poems were
the serve humiliation in being subjugated and the various states
of emotional distress that creat a certain kind of character,
linking it to existential anguish. This new formal pattern also
had to do away with much of traditional imagery and rhythmic
patterns, and he was able to creat imagery and from sources
which had not been considered poetic material. His poetry therefore
was not always easy as it demanded agility on the part of the
reader to appreciate a totally new area of experience
Shaikh
Ayaz,
Born
in a middle class Shikarpur family on March 23, 1923,
Shaikh Ayaz was a lawyer by profession. He also served
as vice-chancellor of the Sindh University. But poetry
was his forte. He began composing poetry as a zealous
youth in 1940. This was an era of reawakening in Sindhi
literature, as in the literature of other major laguagues
of the subcontinent. |
 |
In fact this was when Sindhi literature emerged from its early
and mediaeval expressions and subjects and started responding
to new cultural and social demands. A new generation of progressive
writers, poets and artists came to dominate the literary scene.
who died in Karachi on Sunday, 28th December 1997, was a towering
figure of Sindhi literature, known and respected nationally
and by Sindhi-speaking people all over the world. He was equally
acclaimed in progressive circles for his contribution to the
advancement of human values. Shaikh Ayaz revolutionised almost
all genres of Sindhi literature and is rightfully called the
doyen of the 20th century Sindhi writers and poets.
Parveen
Shakir
Parveen
Shakir was born on 24th November, 1952 in Karachi, Pakistan.
She was highly educated with two masters degrees, one
in English literature and one in linguistics. She also
held a Ph.D and another masters degree in Bank Administration. |
 |
She was a teacher for nine years before she joined the Civil
Service and worked in the Customs department. In 1986 she was
appointed the second secretary, CBR in Islamabad.
A number of books of her poetry have been published. In chronological
order, they are Khushboo (1976), Sad-barg (1980), Khud-kalaami
(1990), Inkaar (1990) and Maah-e-Tamaam (1994). Her first book,
Khushboo, won the Adamjee award. Later she was awarded the Pride
of Performance award, which is the highest award given by the
Pakistan government.
On 26th December, 1994, on her way to work, her car collided
with a truck and the world of modern Urdu poetry lost one of
its brightest stars.
Parveen Shakir initially wrote under the pen-name of 'Beena'.
She considered Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi her 'ustad' and used to called
him 'Ammujaan'. She was married to Dr. Nasir Ahmed but got divorced
from him sometime before her untimely demise in 1994. They had
one son - Murad Ali.
Qateel
Shifai
| Qateel
Shifai was born on 24th December, 1919. His actual name
is Aurangzeb Khan. Qateel Shifai is his nom de plume,
the pen-name under which he is known in the world of Urdu
poetry. "Qateel" is his "takhallus" and "Shifai" is in
honour of his ustaad Hakim Mohammed 'Shifa' whom he considered
his mentor. |
 |
His
father's death at an early age, forced Qateel to quit his education
and start his own sporting goods shop. Success eluded him and
he moved to Rawalpindi, where he worked at a transport company
for a monthly salary of Rs.60. Finally in 1946, Nazir Ahmed
called him to Lahore and made him the assistant editor of the
monthly 'Adab-e-Latif'.
Qayeel
Shifai's first ghazal was printed in the Lahore weekly 'Star',
whose editor was Qamar Jalalabadi. In January 1947, a Lahore
based film producer asked Qateel to pen the songs for his forthcoming
film. His first film as a lyricist was "Teri Yaad". Since then
he has won numerous awards as a lyricist. He has had quite a
few of his poem collections published, one of which being "Mutriba"
which was awarded the highest literature award in Pakistan.
Qateel's
primary contribution to Urdu poetry has been to raise the standards
of ghazals in films. Though this work was started by Tanvir
Alvi and Sahir Ludhianvi,it has been brought to its natural
conclusion by Qateel Shifai. His work brought a certain standard
to ghazals in films and gave it a certain respectability. His
work also brought Urdu poetry closer to the masses by using
simple words, quite often words taken from Hindi.
Qateel
Shifai has also been known for his collaborations with Jagjit
and Chitra Singh on numerous ghazal albums.
FAHMIDA
RIAZ
FAHMIDA
RIAZ is a noted Pakistani feminist and a published poet.
She is also the author of a highly acclaimed novella
Godaavari. Her most recent work is a volume of short
stories, Khat-e Marmuz.
|
 |
Attiya
Dawood
| Attiya
Dawood is a voice from the goths and villages of rural
Sindh. It is a voice of pain and harrowing anguish. |
 |
As a rural Sindhi woman she finds deprivation everywhere: she
faces oppression piled on oppression. As a woman, oppression
of women by men, as a Third World woman, oppression and exploitation
by the advanced capitalist countries. As a rural woman she is
marginalised in favour of the voice of the first person singular
Kamila
Shamsie
Born
in Karachi in 1973, her first novel, In the City by
the Sea was described as 'riveting' in several reviews,
and won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Shamsie was born
into a literary family; her great-aunt was Attia Hosain,
her mother, Muneeza Shamsie, is a writer and editor,
and her grandmother Jahanara Habibullah's memoirs will
be published by Oxford University Press soon. |
 |
Kamila Shamsie studied at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York,
where the seeds of her first novel were sown in a short story
she wrote for a class. She went on to a graduate program in
creative writing at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Her thesis advisor, Shona Ramaya, suggested that she show her
story to an agent, who in a twist of fate turned out to be the
agent who had published Attiya Hussain at Virago. This first
novel won the Prime Minister's Award for literature in Pakistan
in 1999.
Shamsie currently teaches creative writing at Hamilton College
in New York.
|
Pakistan
Literature Leading Personalities
::
