Parveen Shakir Urdu Festival features eminent poets, writers, holds thought-provoking literary sessions
Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD
Eminent poets and writers of the country and a large number of literati of the twin cities attended the one-day Parveen Shakir Urdu Literature Festival organized by the Parveen Shakir Trust (PST) on Tuesday at a local hotel and listened to their favourite poets and writers and attended a number of debates on different literary subjects.
The event featured stars of literary galaxy Amjad Islam Amjad, Asghar Nadeem Sayyid, Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Prof Fateh Muhammad Malik, Dr Tahira Iqbal, Dr Najeeba Arif, Asim Butt, Mehboob Zafar and many others who had come from different parts and cities of the country to attend and experience the warmth of literature in the chilly weather of Islamabad.
A number of awards along with cash prize of Rs850,000 (total) were also announced and given on the occasion. In this way PST has become the first and the only organization in the private sector to not only promote the books and writings of the poets and the writers but also support them financially to encourage them in their endeavours.
One important highlight of the event was arrival of the Turkish scholar and writer Dr Davut Sahbaz all the way from Turkey to Islamabad to receive his award Nayyir Adabi Award (along with Rs100,000) for his book on Mazharul Islam (Life, Style and a Selected Stories).
In the opening ceremony Chairperson of the PST Parveen Qadir Agha expressed her pleasure and satisfaction on the fact that the trust set in memory of the late poet Parveen Shakir to promote and preserve her literary works and to take care of her son, has now become a well-established forum for patronizing and supporting the emerging writers and poets.
It gives us, the members of the PST, a great sense of fulfillment and pride that we have been recognizing the poets and the writers’ efforts in our own humble way for the last 26 years without fail, she said.
She also paid rich compliments to the lifetime member of the PST Mazharul Islam, an acclaimed short story writer of the country for creatively organizing the event, designing the awards and inspiring the team to continue to work for this cause.
On the occasion, Husn-e-Funn Award (along with Rs 100,000 cash prize) was given to Amjad Islam Amjad for his lifetime work in different genres of literature, namely poetry, play writing and travelogues.
Mian Atta Rabbani Sada Bahaar Award (along with Rs 100,000) was given to Mustansar Hussain Tarar for his novel Khas-o-Khashak-e-Zamanay.
Nayyir Adbi Award (Rs 100,000) was given to the Turkish writer Dr Davut Sahbaz.
Younas Sethi Wafa Award (along with Rs 50,000) was given to Asghar Nadeem Sayyid for his novel “Tooti Hui Tanab,” while Sheikh Abdul Qadir Award (Rs 50,000) was given to Shaheen Abbas for his book “Galyon Galyon.”
Sultan Mehmood Qazi Award (Rs 50,000) was given to story writer Tahira Iqbal for her book ‘Giraan,’ while Begum Sarfaraz Iqbal Award (Rs 50,000) was given to Dr Shahida Sarfaraz for her book of short stories ‘Karb-e-Zeest’ for 2019 and to Dr Muhammad Amin for his book ‘Loh-e-Mustoor’ for 2020.
Niaz Ahmed Adbi Award (Rs50,000) was given to Saeed Ahmed for translation of Paulo Coelho’s book ‘By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept,’ as ‘Girya bar Kinar Darya.’
The annual Aks-e-Khushbu Awards in poetry and fiction were also announced along with Rs50,000 cash money each.
The recipients of the Aks-e-Khushbu Awards are Shoaib Khaliq (2019), Asad Naseer (2019), Shazia Akbar (2020) and Muhammad Jamil Akhtar (2020).
Apart from the awards, creative and literary discussions were also held on the novel of Mian Raza Rabbani ‘The Smile Snatchers’ and writer Rafaqat Javed’s novel ‘ Shab-e-Chiragh.’
An important segment of the event was discussion on ‘Future of the Printed Word.’
A Mushaira (Poetry Recital) also followed the ceremony and poets of ‘ghazal’ and ‘nazam’ presented their kalam.
