The book launch on Tuesday by US Lahore Consul General Carmella Conroy, was well received, with several interested members of the public and those invited showing up to hear about this new book on Pakistani poetry being released. It is in fact not a book on poetry itself; it is a collection of Pakistani poetry translated into English, so that the cultural barriers between the Pakistani world and the English speaking world can diminish. Indeed the main reason for publishing this book is based upon building cross cultural bridges so that the two sections can meet somewhere along the middle and understand each other.
The book titled Modern Poetry of Pakistan also has a counterpart called “Asri Amreeki Shairi” (Modern American Poetry), published and released by the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL), which is contributing greatly to local culture by attempting to preserve literature. Although much more can be done in patronising Pakistani literature and in preserving it, PAL is nonetheless doing a commendable enough job in certain areas. The project was a collaboration of PAL and the US Consulate.
Dr Waqas Khwaja introduced the book as an expert in literature. He is a professor at the Agnes Scott College of Liberal Arts in Atlanta, Georgia, US and also a contributing editor of the book. In his introduction, he explained that it was not just Urdu that had been translated into English, as many would expect. In fact this is one of the most commendable actions taken. Instead, about seven of Pakistan’s regional languages have been translated into English, including Balochi, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Saraiki and Kashmiri. “It is about time that we understand that the regional languages of Pakistan are not marginal. In fact they are equally important,” he said.
Poetry being a significant part of a person’s life uses artistic expression to condense certain experiences into a few lines of text, beautifully put from the poet’s point of view, should be more or an encouragement to read for anyone and everyone. Perhaps that is one other reason why these two books have been recently published too. Modern Poetry of Pakistan has been published by the Dalcy Archive Press present in both the UK and US, which makes it important enough for both countries to read about Pakistani poets and what they have said and what they continue to say. Poets like Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Habib Jalib and others may be known by name to many foreigners but they know little about what their thoughts and ideas were and why they are so well respected in Pakistan.
In the Urdu book of American poetry, about 40 poets were taken into context, selected by members of PAL, while the English book on Pakistani poets translates the work of about 44 poets. It is therefore no shock that about 17 translators were used to decipher some poems to English, because not all languages were known to all the contributing editors, neither were they agreed upon just one translation of it. About 142 poems by 44 different poets have been included in the book.
After the launch was a poetry recital session, where even US Consul General Conroy read out Faiz’s translated poem ‘Don’t Ask Me, Dear, For That First Love Again” (Mujh Se Pehli Si Mohabbat Mere Mehboob Na Maang). Conroy said she was happy to launch the book which brought ‘the beauty and diversity of Pakistan’s rich literary tradition alive to the English Speaking world”. She stated that the translation was a companion book of the translation of American poetry into Urdu. The translation exchange project, she said, underscores Pakistan’s deep rooted tradition of literary arts as well as the two countries commitment to continued cultural exchange. At present the book is available for sale in Lahore and Islamabad. The anthology is part of the US government’s International Literary Exchange through the National Endowment of Arts and was commissioned in collaboration with PAL and the Federal Ministry of Culture.
