Noshi Gilani
Noshi Gilani (born in 1964 in Bahawalpur Pakistan) is a legendary female Urdu poet of international fame and a former academic from the Bahawalpur University, Punjab Pakistan.
She is one of the Urdu leading poets in Pakistan has successfully published five collections of poetry. Her poetry collection published in Pakistan Includes:
- Mohabatain Jab Sumar Kurna (When you would count affections, 1993)
- Udas Honay Kay Din Naheen (These are not the days of sadeness, 1997)
- Pehla Lafz Mohabat Likha (The first word written was "Love", 2003)
- Selected poems like Ay Meeray Shareek-E-Risal-E-Jaan,
- Hum Tera Intezaar Kurtey Rahey (O my beloved, I kept waiting you, 2008).
In 2008, her poerty was translated in English and her poems were read in the UK, with the Poetry Translation Centre's World Poets' Tour.
She hosted a tribute to folk singer Pathanay Khan, sponsored by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA).
Personal life
Noshi Gilani settled in San Fasisco USA in 1995 but after her marriage to Saeed Khan she decided to move to Australia. She married Saeed Khan, an Australian-based Urdu poet on October 25, 2008 and they currectly reside in Sydney Australia. It was reported by her mother Mrs. Sarwar Gilani Sahiba, a professor of Urdu and Persian languages and literature, died in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
Works
The candour and frankness of her highly-charged poems is unusual for a woman writing in Urdu and she has gained a committed international audience, performing regularly at large poetry gatherings in Pakistan, Australia, Canada and the US. Unknown outside the Pakistani community, the translations here mark her introduction to an English-speaking audience.
She is a member of younger generation of female poets. Her experience of living in US shows a notable impact on her significant number of poems. Living through Diaspora has increased the complexity of her poems and reinforced her sense of female identity and introduced a new revolution against restraint creative writers in Pakistani society.
Poems
- [http://poetrytranslationcentre.org/poems/single/111/To_catch_butterflies... To catch butterflies...]
- This prisoner breathes
- The breeze rewrites
- Can someone bring me my entire being
- I say nothing anywhere
- The flower is torn at the heart
Books
- Mohabatain Jab Sumar Kurna (When you would count affections, 1993)
- Udas Honay Kay Din Naheen (These are not the days of sadeness, 1997)
- Pehla Lafz Mohabat Likha (The first word was written "Love", 2003)
- Selected poems like Ay Meeray Shareek-E-Risal-E-Jaan,
- Hum Tera Intezaar Kurtey Rahey (And I kept waiting you!)(2008).
- Noshi Gillani poems, Enitharmon Press, (15 Sep 2008), translators: Lavinia Greenlaw; Nukhbah Langah, ISBN 9781904634751
Anthologies
Comments and reviews
"This past month in the UK has been an especially rich time for poetry linked to the Middle East and South Asia. The Poetry International festival, held at London's Southbank center every two years, attracted some of the brightest poetry stars from around the world for nine days of events."
"Noshi Gilani is the most renowned female Urdu poet today."