Harris Khalique ( ur, ; born 20 October 1966) is a Pakistani poet in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and a civil society activist. Khalique has authored nine collections of poetry and two books of non-fiction. In March 2018, he received the Presidential

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award from the state of Pakistan as an acknowledgement of his contributions to

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

. In 2013, he was awarded the UBL Literary Excellence Award in the category of

Urdu poetry Urdu poetry ( ur, ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the cultures of South Asia. According to Naseer Turabi there are five major poets of Urdu which are Mir Taqi Mir (d.1810), Mirza Ghali ...

for his collection ''Melay Mein''. He is also a

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

Honorary Fellow in Writing.

Career

Harris Khalique has managed and advised organisations, development projects and human rights campaigns in Pakistan, South Asia and Europe. He has worked with the

Aga Khan Foundation The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is a private, not-for-profit international development agency, which was founded in 1967 by Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, the 49th Hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. AKF seeks to provide long-term ...

, Amnesty International and United Nations agencies. Since March 2019, he is the Secretary-General of the

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan ( ur, ) (HRCP) is an independent, democratic non-profit organisation. Founded in 1987, it is one of the oldest human rights organisations in the country. HRCP is committed to monitoring, protecting a ...

. He has published papers and spoken at national and international conferences on history, culture, politics and issues surrounding human rights and international development. He has written for ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's hori ...

'', ''

The News International ''The News International'', published in broadsheet size, is one of the largest English language newspapers in Pakistan. It is published daily from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad. An overseas edition is published from London that cater ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'', ''

The Friday Times ''The Friday Times'' (TFT) is a Pakistani English-language independent newsweekly, based in Lahore, Pakistan. History and profile ''The Friday Times'' was first published in May 1989. TFT's founder-editor Najam Sethi and publisher Jugnu Mohsin, ...

'' and Deutsche Welles (English). He gave the keynote speech at 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 March 2020.

Literary accomplishments

In 2015, he participated in the

International Writing Program The International Writing Program (IWP) is a writing residency for international artists in Iowa City, Iowa. Since 2014, the program offers online courses to many writers and poets around the world. Since its inception in 1967, the IWP has hosted o ...

's Fall Residency at the

in Iowa City,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Poetry collections

* ''No Fortunes to Tell'' (English, 2019). * ''Melay Mein'' (Urdu, 2012). * ''Ishq Ki Taqveem Mein'' (Urdu, 2006). * ''Between you and your love'' (English, 2004, Revised and Expanded, 2012) * ''Purani Numaish'' (Urdu, 2001) * '' Saray Kaam Zaroori Thay'' (Urdu, 1997). * ''Divan'' (English, 1998) * ''If wishes were horses'' (English, 1996) * ''Aaj Jab Hui Baarish'' (Urdu, 1991)

Essay collection

* ''Crimson Papers: Reflections on Struggle, Suffering and Creativity in Pakistan'' (English, 2017).

Creative non-fiction

* ''Unfinished Histories'' (co-written, English, 2002).

Monographs

* ''The Latent Transformation: Challenges, Resilience and Successes of Pakistani Women'' (2011) * ''Pakistan Mein Syasi Tabdeeli Ki Simt'' (Co-written, Urdu, 2007) * ''Pakistan: The Question of Identity'' (2003)

Anthologies where work appeared

* ''Windows on the World – 50 writers, 50 views''. Penguin US, 2014. * ''Look at the city from here''. Oxford University Press, 2010. * ''Pakistani Urdu Verse''. Oxford University Press, 2010. * ''Language for a New Century''. W.W. Norton and Co., 2008. * ''The Poetry of Men’s Lives, The University of Georgia Press''. 2004. * ''Dragonfly in the Sun – 50 years of Pakistani writing in English''. Oxford University Press, 1997.

Personal life

He lived and worked in Europe before returning to

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

. Khalique's paternal ancestors were

Kashmiris Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language, living mostly, but not exclusively, in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern ...

who had converted to Islam and settled in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

. His maternal ancestors were from Amritsar,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

. He currently lives in Islamabad.

References

External links

Harris Khalique
at the

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is an American literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Ru ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khalique, Harris 1966 births Living people English-language poets from Pakistan International Writing Program alumni Muhajir people NED University of Engineering & Technology alumni Pakistani civil rights activists Pakistani columnists Pakistani essayists Pakistani people of Kashmiri descent Punjabi people Poets from Karachi Recipients of the Pride of Performance Urdu-language poets from Pakistan Writers from Islamabad