literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...
started in June 1966 in
Allahabad
Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
, India. The magazine was founded and edited by poet and author
Shamsur Rahman Faruqi
Shamsur Rahman Faruqi (30 September 1935 – 25 December 2020) was an Indian Urdu language poet, author, critic and theorist. He is known for ushering modernism to Urdu literature. He formulated fresh models of literary appreciation that comb ...
who used to work on it along with his job at the Indian Postal Service. The journal covered the modernist (jadidiyat) voice in Urdu literature at a time when the literary scene was dominated by progressive literature (taraqqi pasand) and was hailed as "the harbinger of modernism in Urdu". The Magazine was calligraphed by a scribe (katib) Salimullah Naiyer. Forty years after being started, the journal was published for the last time in June 2006. Though it was popular, it ceased publication owing to editor Shamsur Rahman Faruqi's failing health.
Describing the support of his wife Jamila Faruqi, Rehman said:
Origins
Faruqi initially thought of naming the Magazine ''Teesha'' (axe or adze) associated with
Farhad
Farhad ( fa, فرهاد ''farhād''), also spelt Ferhaad or Ferhod, has been a Persian name for men since the Parthians, first recorded for Arsacid kings circa 170 BC.
Etymology
Modern Persian name ''Farhād'' () is derived from Middle Persian '' ...
, a stonemason in the Persian Romance
Khosrow and Shirin
Khosrow and Shirin ( fa, خسرو و شیرین) is the title of a famous tragic romance by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209), who also wrote Layla and Majnun. It tells a highly elaborated fictional version of the story of the love ...
, who had to cut through a mountain. Finally, ''Shabkhoon'' (surprise attack by night) — an allusion to "shaking the world of rduliterature out of stasis" — was decided upon. The magazine was financially supported by Faruqi's wife Jamila. It was published for the first time in June 1966 with Progressive writer Ejaz Hussain as its first editor.
Notable Contributors
The magazine became so popular that progressive writers started contributing to the magazine. The magazine also published works of Pakistani writers. Some of the notable contributors include:
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Adil Mansuri
Adil Farid Mohammed Ghulam Nabi Mansuri (18 May 1936 – 6 November 2008) was an Indian poet, playwright, and calligrapher, primarily responsible for the development of modern Gujarati ghazal poetry and plays. He wrote in several languages, namel ...
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Ali Sardar Jafri
Ali Sardar Jafri (29 November 1913 – 1 August 2000) was an Indian writer of Urdu language. He was also a poet, critic and film lyricist.
Biography
Early life and education
Ali Sardar Jafri was born in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, where he sp ...
Asif Farrukhi
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 Urdu, ...
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Balraj Komal
Balraj Komal (1928-2013) was an Indian poet and writer of Urdu literature. The Government of India honored Komal in 2011, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri.
Biography
Balraj Komal, born in 1928, was a freelance writer post hi ...
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Intizar Hussain
Intizar Hussain ( ur, ; 21 December 1925 – 2 February 2016) was a Pakistani writer of Urdu novels, short stories, poetry and nonfiction. He is widely recognised as a leading literary figure of Pakistan. He was among the finalists of the Man Bo ...
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Ismat Chughtai
Ismat Chughtai (21 August 1915 – 24 October 1991) was an Indian Urdu novelist, short story writer, liberal humanist and filmmaker. Beginning in the 1930s, she wrote extensively on themes including female sexuality and femininity, middle-class ...
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Rajinder Singh Bedi
Rajinder Singh Bedi (1 September 1915 – 1984) was an Indian Urdu writer of the progressive writers' movement and a playwright, who later worked in Hindi cinema as a film director, screenwriter and dialogue writer and he is grandfather Rajat Be ...