Today marks Parveen Shakir’s 70th birthday. The renowned Pakistani poet, Parveen Shakir was born on 24th November 1952. She was a Pakistani poet, teacher, and civil servant of the government of Pakistan.
After teaching for nine years, she joined the Civil Service of Pakistan and worked in the customs department. In 1986, she was appointed second secretary of the Central Board of Revenue (now Federal Board of Revenue) in Islamabad.
She is best known for her poems, which brought a distinctive feminine voice to Urdu literature, and for her consistent use of the rare feminine gender for the word “lover”.The major genre in which wrote is Ghazal, free verse, and prose.
Parveen Shakir started writing at a very young age. She wrote both prose and poetry, contributed columns in Urdu newspapers, and a few articles in English dailies. Initially, she wrote under the pen-name “Beena”.
Parveen Shakir’s poems are known for their in-depth exploration of sensitive topics rarely talked about, especially for women.
Her poems aimed to encompass the struggle of women which include the hardships of love, the restrictions and social pressures faced uniquely by women, and the need for women to be more represented in all areas of society.
One aspect of writing that Shakir is particularly known for is her introduction of female pronouns, both first person and third person, as a way to normalize femininity in poetry, specifically within the realm of Urdu poetry. Through her ghazals, in particular, she continued to embody a feminine voice through grammatical choices, giving a voice to females and the female experience.
Shakir’s personal life was extremely influential in the choice of style and topic that she chose to pursue. An example of this would be the tumultuous divorce between her and her husband, which resulted in her losing custody of her son due to Pakistani law. This event was one of the reasons her writing focused heavily on women’s issues in regard to their place in society.
Many of her poems lament the discrimination women face, especially as a divorcee living in a more conservative country.
In 1976, Parveen Shakir published her first volume of poetry Khushbu (Fragrance) to great acclaim. She was awarded one of the highest honors of Pakistan, the Pride of Performance, for her outstanding contributions to literature.
She subsequently published other volumes of poetry including Sad-barg (Marsh Marigold) in 1980, and Khud Kalāmi (Soliloquy) and Inkār (Denial) in 1990.
These poetry books are collected in Māh-e-Tamām (Full Moon). She also published a collection of her newspaper columns, titled Gosha-e-Chashm (Corner of the Eye). Kaf-e-Āina (The Mirror’s Edge) was released posthumously with works from her diaries and journals
On her death anniversary on 26 December, the “Parveen Shakir Urdu Literature Festival” has been held every year in Islamabad in her Memoriam
