LAHORE - The two-day Pakistani English Conference at Kinnaird College concluded yesterday with vote of thanks to the college Principal and International Centre for Pakistani Writings in English (ICPWE) and its director Athar Tahir.
The Pakistani and foreign writers highlighted intellectual, creative and critical aspects of Pakistani writing in English and its place in the contemporary international literary scenario.
in the first session, the speakers including Prof Perin Boga read paper on “Faryal Gohar’s No Space for Burial”, Ms Syrrina Ahsan on “Detachment as a Medium of Correlation to Committal Space in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Characters”, Dr Saman Saif on Moral and Religious Consciousness in Hyder’s River of Fire”, Dr Summer Pervez on “Racial Politics in Hanif Kuresishi’s Border Line and My Bueautifuol Launderatte” and Qaaisar Mehmood on “The Postcolonial Stance of Dissent and Hegemony in Usman Ali’s The Guilt”.
During the second session, the criticism on The Last Tea was held. While Dr Waseem Anwar read his paper on “The Pantheistic Embeds the Cultural or Vice Versa”, Aysha Fatima Barque on “Haiku in The Last Tea” and Ms Ramsha Ashraf on “Image and Element: The Translational Poetics in The Last Tea”.
Muneeza Shamsie read her paper on “The Englhish Poetry of Shaheed Suharwardy”, Mahmood Ahmad on “Multiplicity of Perspectives in Taufiq Rafat’s Poetry”, Nadiya Aamer’s “Zulfikar Ghose: Beyond the Language of the Margins”, Ms Saadia Ghazanvi on “Dispelling Fear in the English Verse of Contemporary Pakistani Female Poets”. Other panel writers included Ms Aysha F Barque who read paper on Energy in the Poetry of Shadab Zeest Hashmi” and Ms Ilona Yusuf on “A Bird That Would Take Wing: New Voice in English Poetry”.
The best of the year 2016 reward was given to Usman Ali on his play The Guilt. The Guilt, a three act play and The Last Metaphor, are Ali’s are considered as his best plays. Ali wrote the dramatic script for Hamlet's Madness: Feigned or Real enacted at British Council's celebration of Shakespeare's birthday.
He also wrote his script for An Imagined Interview with Robert Frost in 2001 and has to his credit an English translation of a book on Gulzar The Speaking Silence.
An interactive session on Face to Face with Kanza Javed and Zeenat Mahal was also held besides question answer sessions. The Principal Kinnaird College Dr Rukhsana David concluded the conference with her remarks on the importance of such sessions.
Scholars, researchers and academics from different cities and universities of Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Islamabad, and Quetta paid rich tribute to the administration of the Kinnaird College and Principal Dr Rukhsana David who provided them with a chance to present their creative writings and criticism.
Students and other participants also lauded the effort and said that such conferences for art and literature lovers must continue. They said that founding director of the ICPWE strived hard dedicating his centre to creating a critical mass of work focusing on Pakistani novelists, playwrights, poets, essayists, authors, translators and critics.
Capt Zaigham Ahmad, an Mphil Scholar and Ms Anam, a college student while talking to this paper said that they enjoyed the literary event and lauded the college administration on conducting such wonderful literary event. They said that it was the rare opportunity to listen to the writers who created masterpieces.