Urdu Studies, Vol 3 Issue 1, October 2023

Seven Poems by Parveen Shakir (1952 – 1994)

Translated by Alamgir Hashmi

Abstract:

Parveen Shakir (1952–1994), author of Ḳhushbū (fragrance), ṢadBarg (Marigold), Ḳhud-Kalāmī (musings), Inkār (refusal), Kaf-e Āina (mirror-dust), and Māh-e-Tamām (full-moon), is one of the most popular Urdu poets in the subcontinent. Along with other women poets of her generation, she was responsible for developing a new expression for women’s poetry in Pakistan. A teacher and a civil servant in her country, she also spent some time in the United States, as a Fulbright Scholar. All Shakir’s poems included here are translated from her collection, Inkār (Islamabad, 1990).

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Works cited

These poetry translations were previously published in the now defunct The Arabesques Review (Algeria), CipherJournal (USA), Wilderness House
Literary Review (USA), and Literatur- und Kunstseiten von Johannes Beilharz (Literature and Art Pages of Johannes Beilharz; Germany). These are reprinted in Urdu Studies with the translator’s permission.

Shakir, Parveen. Inkaar. Murad Publications, Islamabad, 1990.

Seven Poems by Parveen Shakir (1952 – 1994) by Alamgir Hashmi is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0