KARACHI, Dec 1: Poet and writer Prof Azher Qadri died of kidney failure on Sunday. He was 74.

He was a senior Urdu teacher presently associated with a number of academic and educational institutions in the city, including Karachi University, Urdu College and Jinnah Women University.

Prof Qadri was born in Faizabad (UP) on July 15, 1929. He did his MA and adopted teaching as a profession in the former East Pakistan’s Noterdem College and Jagennath College both at Dhaka. He also taught at the Jamshoro, Sindh University.

Prof Qadri’s first book of critical essays on poet Raza Ali Wahshat was published in 1956 and another book, titled Adab aur Science in 1968. A collection of his critical essays was compiled and published in the year 2001 by Shafiq Ahmad Shafique. A discerning writer as he was, he continued writing literary columns for nine long years in a Karachi monthly Jaam-i-Nau.

The late professor was also a poet and a fiction writer with a novel to his credit. While in former East Pakistan, he had composed songs and written scripts for some film. He was also known for his English verses.

He has left behind the widow, two sons and a daughter. — HA