ALKHOBAR, 20 September 2004 — The literary and poet society (Bazme Shair-o-Sukhan) of the Eastern Province launched its first Urdu literary magazine at a weekend function attended by an elite group of poets and literary figures.
Professor Mashkoor Hussein, who is on a visit to the Kingdom from Lahore, was the guest of honor. He is a well known literary figure of Pakistan and has 25 books to his credit, including the much acclaimed, ‘Azadi key chiragh’ which is a personal account of the times of the creation of Pakistan. Hussein lost 35 members of his extended family during riots which broke out during those times.
The 75-page magazine called, ‘Sher-o-Sukhan’ was well received. “It is a very good literary magazine, something that is much needed in today’s Pakistani community where television and video seems to have replaced reading material,” a guest at the function told Arab News.
Priced at SR10, Shair-o-Sukhan has a variety of reading material from poetry, short stories to write-ups on old and contemporary literary personalities. Anila Safdar is the editor of the magazine. Shahnawaz Kamil, Ayub Sabir, Iqbal Qamar, Zain Siddiqui among others gave their comments on the magazine. They pointed out that the magazine needed better proofreading and more contributions from senior writers and poets.
Later talking to Arab News, Mashkoor, the lively 80-year-old former professor of Lahore’s government college said, “I am very impressed with the literary prowess of the people in the Eastern Province.” Commenting on the state of Urdu and the quality of literature, he added, “Literature has now become an independent activity. It strikes a balance between science and philosophy.” He did not agree with critics that literary standards have gone down. “On the contrary, there are many competitors; the best will always be heard. He will make his presence felt and make a name for himself.”
Dr. Abid Ali, vice president of the literary society, hoped that the magazine would get quality contributions. “We are looking for quality work, not quantity.” A mushaira marked the end of the function.
