Introduction
Iftikhar Hussain Arif (born 21 March 1943) (Urdu: افتخار حسین عارف), commonly known as Iftikhar Arif, is an Urdu poet, scholar and littérateur from Pakistan. His style is romantic Urdu poetry. He has headed the Pakistan Academy of Letters and the National Language Authority. He has received the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Presidential Pride of Performance awards, which are the highest literary awards given by the Government of Pakistan.
Education
He studied Urdu, English and Sanskrit - where he did his M.A. in 1965 - at the Lucknow university, then studied journalism at New York University, before migrating to Pakistan and working for Radio Pakistan.
Works and achievements
Shikam ki aag liye phir rahi hay shehar-ba-shehar
Sag-e-zamana hein hum kia hamri hijrar kia.[source needs translation]
Iftikhar Arif is an Urdu poet. Three collections of his poetry, Mehr-i-Doneem, Harf-i-Baryab and Jahan-e-Maloom have been published.
Oxford University Press has published an anthology of Arif’s translated poetry under the title, Written in the Season of Fear. The introduction was written by Harris Khalique, a poet who writes in English, Urdu and Punjabi.
Awards
- Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan (2005)
- Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan (1999)
- Pride of Performance (literature 1990) by the President of Pakistan
- Baba-e-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq Award, (poetry, 1995)
- Naqoosh Award (1994)
- Faiz International Award for Poetry from the Aalami Urdu Conference
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Books and publications
- Mehr-i-Doneem (1983)
- Harf-i-Baryab (1994)
- Jahan-e-Maloom
- Shehr-e-Ilm ke derwazay per (2006)
- Written in the Season of Fear (English translation)
- The Twelfth Man (translation of Barhwan Khilari by Brenda Walker, 1989)
- Kitab-e-Dil-o-Dunya (2009)
- Modern Poetry of Pakistan(2011, editor)
- Google books, Modern Poetry of Pakistan written by Iftikhar Arif, a book review on GoogleBooks website, Retrieved 3 June 2016