LAHORE: A tribute was paid to English language poet, educationist and social worker Jocelyn Ortt-Saeed at The Knowledge Factory, Defence, on Saturday.

Her family, friends and fans attended the evening which was a monthly session of the Poet’s Corner that is regularly held at The Knowledge Factory.

Speaking on the occasion , Henna Babar Ali said she had learnt many things from the late Jocelyn when it came to poetry and top of all those was how to edit one’s own poetry again and again, even after being published, to gave it a fine feel. She said writing poetry was a lifelong mission and passion. Jocelyn, she said, had a sensibility one got when one inclined to spirituality. That’s why Jocelyn transcended all the cultural barriers and embraced humanity at large and she was very good at communicating with people and making them her friends instantly, Ms Henna said, adding that the late poet had a positive approach towards life.

Educationist and poet Athar Tahir, remembering the days when he met Jocelyn for the first, said that it was in the 80s when he met her at the Quaid-i-Azam Library poetry readings. Tahir said Jocelyn became a very active member of the poetry reading group in a very short time. She had a great aspect of her personality that she could easily interact with people, she was a very forthcoming person, he added. Tahir also read and dedicated a poem to Jocelyn from his poetry collection ‘The Gift of Possession’.

Poet Bushra Naqi said Jocelyn spent over 50 years in Pakistan and she was tremendously in love with its people, music and culture of this country. She was very sensitive to life and had great passion for poetry and she did poetry all her life, Ms Naqi said, adding that Jocelyn’s poetry carried the flame of hope that kept burning because she was an optimistic soul and a woman of great faith.

Mariym Ortt-Saeed also talked about her mother on the occasion and shared with the audience that how her mother raised her children. She also played some of the poetry recordings of her mother and read out some of the poems written by her mother with a great passion and expression.

Nosheen, another daughter of Jocelyn, was also present and she sang a poem by her mother.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2014