PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa culture director, Shama Naimat, has said she would conduct a literary festival in Peshawar in which women literati would be invited to participate and share their creative works.

Addressing a book launching ceremony here on Monday, she said that women poets and writers would be given membership of Writers Club Peshawar (WCP) at the directorate where they would hold monthly sessions and other literary activities.

Poets, writers, and rights activists attended the event arranged in connection with International Women’s Day. Seven women writers and activists were given awards and commendation certificates in recognition of their services for highlighting the issues of womenfolk.

The organisers of the event said the newly launched book was in fact part of series of ‘Tanisiat Ka Naya Daur’ (new era of feminism). Young poets and writers would be supported to launch their creative works showcasing issues of women, they said.

Culture directorate to organise literary festival

The Pakistan Women Writers Forum launched the new book titled ‘Naya Usloob Aur Nayee Aurat (new style and new woman), a collection of 26 short stories in Urdu, featuring the plight of women, compiled by Bushra Iqbal Malik.

Ms Naimat said young women writers would be encouraged to come up with proposals for organising a grand literary festival in which women literati would be provided special sessions to display their creative works whether fiction, prose, or poetry.

“The culture directorate will bear all the expenses to make the literature festival a great success as women from across KP and country at large would be invited to express themselves through their works,” she said.

Speaking on the occasion, Bushra Iqbal Malik, president of Pakistan Women Writers Forum (PWWF) said that she along with her colleagues launched PWWF in Peshawar way back in 1994. “It was really a difficult time as police would raid our office asking us from where did the funds come and people would dub us as agents of the west but despite all such stupid allegations we continued to encourage women writers to highlight women issues in their writings,” she said.

Prof Salma Masood, a noted academician and rights activist, said women had entered a modern period where their potentialities were being recognised in every field. She said that KP women had been working hard to bring out their talent.

Shad Begum, another social activist from Lower Dir, asked young literati to believe in their talent and never give up in life.

Senior lawyer and rights activist Rakshanda Naz, Prof Farkhanda Liaqat, Prof Abaseen Yousafzai, Aziz Ejaz and Prof Owais Qarni also addressed the event.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2020