Iftikhar Hussain Arif (born 21 March 1944) is a Pakistani poet and litterateur of Urdu. His main theme is romantic Urdu poetry and he has headed the Pakistan Academy of Letters and the National Language Authority. Arif has received the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, and Presidential Pride of Performance awards, the highest literary awards given by the Government of Pakistan.

Early life and career

Iftikhar Arif was born on 21 March 1944 and attended the University of Lucknow, then studied journalism at New York University. He then migrated to Karachi, Pakistan, where he was a newscaster for Radio Pakistan. He then joined the Pakistan Television Corporation (Karachi Center) where he teamed up with Obaidullah Baig for the PTV program Kasauti. He spent the next thirteen years in England, until 1990, working for Urdu Markaz there.

Achievements

Arif has published three poetry collections: Mehr-i-Doneem (1984), Harf-i-Baryab (1994) and Jahan-e-Maloom. Oxford University Press has published an anthology of his translated poetry, Written in the Season of Fear, with an introduction by Harris Khalique, a poet who writes in English, Urdu and Punjabi.

Awards