Asif Aslam Farrukhi ( ur, ; 16 September 1959 1 June 2020) was a Pakistani writer, translator, and literary critic active in both Urdu and English.
He was also a public health expert and polyglot. He translated books from English into
Dow University of Health Sciences
The Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) is a public medical university located in the Urban metropolitan area of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It was founded by Sir Hugh Dow, the then Governor of Sindh, in 1945.
The university comprises two h ...
in 1984. He published his first book of short stories, using the name Asif Farrukhi, while still a student at Dow University in 1982. From 1988-1989, he completed a master's degree in public health at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
.
Literary career
Asif Aslam is the author of six collections of short stories and two collections of critical essays in Urd He was also a prolific translator, from Sindhi and English to Urdu as well as from Urdu and Sindhi to English. He compiled several English anthologies of writing from Pakistan.
In 2000, he founded the bi-annual literary journal Dunyazad, intended to position new Urdu writing in conversation with global literature in translation. He also founded the Scheherazade Press in 1999 to showcase new writings in Urdu.
From 2010 to 2018 Farrukhi was the co-founder and organizer of the
Karachi Literature Festival
Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) is an annual international literary festival held in Karachi, Pakistan. It is the first festival of its kind in Pakistan. It is one of the world's youngest and fastest growing literary festivals. Till 2019, ten ...
, in collaboration with the Oxford University Press and the British Council. Following creative differences, in 2019, he co-founded the Adab Literature Festival as an alternative literary space.
Public Health Career
From 1985 to 1993, Farrukhi worked at the
Aga Khan University
Aga Khan University is a non-profit institution and an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network. It was Founded in 1983 as Pakistan's first private university. Starting in 2000, the university expanded to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Ki ...
's Community Health Services department under the supervision of the public health pioneer Prof. John H. Bryant. From 1994 to 2014, he was the Health and Nutrition Program Officer with
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
, Karachi. His international and cross-country travels in his professional capacity greatly informed his literary oeuvre.
In 2014, he joined the then newly-founded
Habib University
Habib University (HU) ( ur, ) is a private liberal arts university located in Karachi, Pakistan.
Funded by the House of Habib, the Habib University Foundation was established in 2010, and was chartered in 2012 as an independent university. B ...
as Associate Professor of Urdu and Director of the Arzu Center for Regional Languages & Humanities. In 2016, he briefly served as Interim Dean of the University's School of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences.
Awards
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Tamgha-e-Imtiaz
Tamgha-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, is a state-organised honour of Pakistan. It is given to any civilian in Pakistan based on their achievements. While it is a civilian/military award, it can be bestowed upon officers of the P ...
(Medal of Excellence) by the
President of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Pakistan Academy of Letters
The Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) ( ur, ) is a national academy with its main focus on Pakistani literature and related fields. It is the largest and the most prestigious learned society of its kind in Pakistan, with activities throughout th ...
in 1997
Death
Farrukhi died suddenly from a
cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...
in
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...