ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) on Wednesday announced literary awards of Rs5.2 million for writings, articles and books published in 2022.

The panel of judges consisted of well-known writers and scholars namely Munir Ahmad Badini, Dr Moeenuddin Aqeel, Dr Salma Shaheen, Dr Abdul Razzaq Sabir, Sarwat Mohyuddin, Riffat Abbas, Yousuf Hussain Abadi, Mubeen Mirza, Dr Khalid Mahmood Sanjrani, Dr Rubina Shaheen, Dr Amjad Tufail, Bushra Farrukh, Haris Khalique, Farrukh Yaar Khan and Akhtar Dargahi.

The judges met on Wednesday in the office of PAL. Munir Ahmad Badini presided over the meeting to nominate writers for awards based on writings, articles and books published in 2022.

Prominent writer Hassan Manzar has been nominated for the Kamal-i-Fun Award.

Literary awards worth over Rs5m announced for writers

The Kamal-i-Fun Award is the highest literary award in the field of literature for recognition of a lifetime achievement in creative and research work. The amount of the award is Rs1 million.

PAL Chairperson Dr Najeeba Arif announced the National Literary Awards for the year 2022, given to the best literary books written during the year 2022 in Urdu and other Pakistani languages, in a press conference.

According to the decision of the panel, for Urdu Prose (Creative Literature), the Saadat Hasan Manto award will be given to Ahmad Saleem for his book ‘Meri Dharti Mere Log’.

For Urdu Prose (Criticism and Research) Baba-i-Urdu Molvi Abdul Haq award will be given to Dr Aurangzeb Niazi for his book ‘Urdu Adab Maholiati Tanazur’. For Urdu poetry, the Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal award will be given to Qamar Raza Shahzad for his book ‘Dar Guzar’. For Punjabi poetry, the Syed Waris Shah award will be given to Ghulam Hussain Sajid for his book ‘Kun De Gunn’ in Punjabi prose.

The Afzal Ahsan Randhawa award will be given to Nain Sukh for his book ‘Waba Te Waseb’ in Sindhi poetry.

The Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai award will be given to Imdad Hussaini on his book ‘Zard Matti’, and the Sindhi Prose Mirza Qaleech Baig award will be given to Manzoor Kohiar on his book ‘Denok 109’ and Dr Fayaz Latif on his book ‘Shaikh Ayaz Je Shairee Jee Lughat’ for Pashto poetry.

The Khushhal Khan Khattak award will be given to Ismail Gauhar on his book ‘Ghazal O Ghazal’, and for Pushto Prose, the Mohammad Ajmal Khan Khattak award will be given to Aseer Mangal on his book ‘Tarla Da Tarbor Vee’. For Balochi Prose Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi award will be given to Yousuf Gichki on his book ‘Tarangani Johan’, and the Balochi Poetry Mast Tawakli award will be given to Mubarak Qazi on his book ‘Gas e Watarkang Lotan’.

For Seraiki poetry, the Khwaja Ghulam Fareed award will be given to Iqbal Babar for his book ‘Saroop’, and the Seraiki Prose Dr Maher Abdul Haq award will be given to Hafeez Khan for his book ‘Marma Jeewan Dee’ for Brahui Poetry Taj.

The Mohammad Tajal award will be given to Maher Zahid Nalvi for his book ‘Qab-i-Qausain’ for Brahui Prose. The Ghulam Nabi Rahi award will be given to Zauq Brahui for his book ‘Mir Noor Mohammad Mengal: Zindo Kirdar’.

The Hindko Poetry Saeen Ahmad Ali award will be given to Sajid Sarhadi on his book ‘Piyar Dee Dewe’, and the Hindko Prose Khatir Ghaznavi award will be given to Gul Arbab on her book ‘Chuni Naal Baheni Kahanian.

For English prose, the Pitras Bukhari award will be given to Kamila Shamsie for her book ‘Best Friends’. For English poetry, the Daud Kamal award will be given to Ejaz Rahim for his book ‘Charli Hebdo and Other Poems’. For translation, the Mohammad Hasan Askari award will be given to Yasmeen Hameed for her book ‘Junoobi Asia Kee Muntakheb Nazmein’.

The award money of Rs. 200,000 will be given to each of the award winners for the National Literary Awards 2022.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2024