18th death anniversary of Parveen Shakir observed

The 18th death anniversary of noted poetess Parveen Shakir was observed here on Wednesday by the literary circles. Parveen Shakir died in an accident on December 26, 1994 on her way to office. Her death was a great loss to the Urdu poetry. Chairman Academy of Letters Abdul Hameed, while talking to APP, said she set a new trend in the Urdu poetry. She used the first person feminine pronoun, which is rarely used even by female poets, he added. “Parveen portrayed the women’s issues in her poestry in a beautiful manner and adopted purely an eastern style,” he said. She was a noted Urdu poetess, teacher and a civil servant. It was a unique honour for her that there was a question on her poetry in the Urdu paper in the 1982 Central Superior Services Examination, in which she appeared. She did her masters in English Literature and Linguistics from Karachi University. She worked as a professor at Karachi University and Trinity College, Connecticut, USA, for nine years before joining the Civil Service, where she served in the Customs Department. She was appointed second secretary, CBR in 1986. She again joined Trinity College, Connecticut, USA, in 1990, and did her masters in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1991. Parveen started writing, both prose and poetry, at a young age. She also wrote columns in Urdu newspapers, and a few articles in English dailies. Initially, she wrote under the pen-name, “Beena”. The feminine perspective of love and the associated social problems were her theme. Critics compared her poetry to that of Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad. Her first book, Khushboo, won the Adamjee Award. Later she was awarded the Pride of Performance. Upon her death, the Parveen Shakir Trust was established by her close friend, Parveen Qadir Agha. The Parveen Shakir Trust organizes a yearly function and gives out the Aks-e-Khushbo award.