PESHAWAR: A large number of Pashto poets, writers and research scholars have launched online weekly, fortnightly and monthly sessions for critical evaluation and appreciation of literary pieces. Critics have termed it a new experience to engage literati in healthy and positive discourse across the world.

The Da Sahu Leekunkio Adabi Maraka, Peshawar, initiated by late noted writer Qalandar Momand in 1962, has stopped its weekly literary session in the second week of March and many other literary organisations have turned to online activities.

Despite shortcomings such as time-zone difference, nature of jobs and socioeconomic and geopolitical situation the literati took out time to participate in the online literary sessions, contributed their poetic pieces and shared critical views to reach a logical conclusion.

Using social media while keeping social distance would benefit many, as bibliophiles could enjoy e-reads through new reality, said Ansarullah, a young poet.

During lockdown, literati have enough time to engage in a healthy activity and motivate others to market their talent and benefit from the scholarship of poets, writers and intellectuals across the globe as it would shape out new realities emerging out of the coronavirus pandemic casting phenomenal impact on humanity, remarked Akbar Hoti, a Pashto poet.

Several literary organisations in Peshawar have stopped conducting literary sessions in the wake of lockdown and soon found an easy solution to engage critics, scholars and writers on a larger scale not only to widen the scope of literary activity, but also take forward the stage from local perspective to a global scenario to make it more flexible and productive.

Senior writer and general secretary of Da Sahu Leekunkio Adabi Maraka said online literary sessions were not something new, but during the current lockdown it would enlarge scope of such activity because it would include more and more Pakhtun poets and literary critics from around the world and would express themselves on a particular piece of literary genre whether poem, prose, fiction, etc.

Abid Ghazi, a young Pashto writer affiliated with the Adabi Maraka, told this scribe that he and his colleagues had launched an online Tanqeedi Nashist (critical session) in November last year, but the current lockdown boosted up its importance as poets and scholars settled in UK, US, Canada, Germany, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabi and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa offered to be included in the WhatsApp group.

Mr Ghazi added that his group included writers from several countries and every Thursday night literary session was conducted from 8pm to 10pm PST.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2020