Jeddah poets honor Gulnar Afreen

The literary community in Jeddah, including poets and writers, hosted a reception in honor of Gulnar Afreen, a well-known Pakistani poet, who came to perform Umrah recently.
The function, which was organized by poet Moona Najmi and others, also included poetry recitals.
Noted poets, including Ather Nafees Abbasi, president of Alami Urdu Markaz; Naeem Bazidpuri, Anwer Ansari, Nasir Barni, Mohsin Alvi, Irfan Barabankvi, Faisal Tufail, Zammurad Khan Saifi, Kamran Khan and Moona Najmi, participated.
A naat was presented by Mohammed Nawaz Janjua. The program was hosted by poet Anwer Ansari.
Najmi welcomed prominent guests including Syed Farid Khaja of Savola Group and Mohammed Yusufuddin Amjad of United AP Forum.
While introducing Afreen, Najmi said the poetess belongs to a reputable and educated family of Tonk state in India, and is a distinguished poet who has served literature in many ways.
Afreen’s grandfather, father and brothers were all great poets of their time. Afreen migrated to Pakistan and lived in Karachi. She had also lived in the Kingdom for 14 years before returning to Pakistan in 1995, Najmi said.
“She often organized poetry nights and visited a number of countries including Gulf countries, America, Canada, and India to attend literary functions and where she was very much appreciated for her poetry,” Najmi said.