Biography of Parveen Shakir

Parveen Shakir, (Urdu: پروین شاکر) (November 24, 1952 - December 26, 1994) was a Pakistani Urdu poetess, teacher and a civil servant of the Government of Pakistan.

Biography
Shakir was born on 24th November, 1952 in Karachi, Pakistan. She received two undergraduate degrees -- in English literature and linguistics.

Parveen held MA degrees in English Literature and Linguistics from University of Karachi. She was a teacher at Karachi University and Trinity College, Connecticut, USA, for 9 years before joining the Pakistan Civil Service, where she served in the Customs department. In 1986, she was appointed second secretary, CBR in Islamabad.

In 1990, she taught at Trinity College, Connecticut, USA, and then did her masters in public administration at Harvard University in 1991.

She married Naseer Ali, a doctor by profession, whom she later divorced. In 1994, she died in a car accident at age 42. She is survived by her son, Syed Murad Ali. Her unique honor was that when she appeared in the Central Superior Services Examiation in 1982 there was a question on her poetry in the Urdu examination.


Poetry
Her poetry was a breath of fresh air in Urdu poetry. She used the first-person feminine pronoun, which is rarely used in Urdu poetry even by female poets. The feminine perspective of love and the associated social problems were her theme. Critics compare her poetry to that of Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad.

Her first book, Khushboo, won the Adamjee Award. Later she was awarded the Pride of Performance.

Upon her death, the Parveen Shakir Trust was established by her close friend, Parveen Qadir Agha. The Parveen Shakir Trust organizes a yearly function and gives out the "Aks-e-Khushbo" award.


Books
Following are her published books of poetry in chronological order. A translation of the title of each book is given in italics.

• Khushboo (1976) - Fragrance
• Sad-barg (1980) - Evergreen
• Khud-kalaami (1990) - Talking to Self
• Inkaar (1990) - Denial
• Maah-e-Tamaam (1994) - Full Moon