Adrian A. Husain (born Syed Akbar Husain) is a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, Shakespearean scholar, and literary journalist. He was the founding Chairman of the

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

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'' Dialogue: Pakistan'' prior to the return of democracy in 2008.

Life

Educated in England, Italy, and Switzerland, Husain received his undergraduate Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) degree in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1963. He won the Guinness Poetry Prize for his poem 'House at Sea' in 1968. He received a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

in 1993 for a thesis on

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, Machiavelli, and Castiglione.

Work

He is the author of ''Politics and Genre in Hamlet'', published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in 2004. His collection of verse, ''Desert Album'', was published by Oxford University Press in 1997 to coincide with Pakistan's Golden Jubilee. He also published a collection of sonnets, ''Italian Window,'' in 2017. A recent publication, ''The Changing World of Contemporary South Asian Poetry in English: A Collection of Critical Essays'', edited by Mitali P. Wong and M. Yousuf Saeed, contains an essay on Husain's verse. He wrote ''Elegy for Benazir Bhutto'' in 2011.POSTCARD USA: Gone but not forgotten
, ''

Daily Times (Pakistan) The ''Daily Times'' (''DT'') is an English-language newspaper that is simultaneously published from Lahore and Islamabad. The ''Daily Times'' is considered a left-leaning newspaper that promotes liberalism, liberal and secular ideas. It is a m ...

'', (article dated) 2008-02-03. According to Harris Khalique in Dawn, Husain has stated his aspiration to write verse that transcends time and space, rather than specifically Pakistani ethnic poetry. Khalique also notes that Husain's poetry frequently explores the interactions and contradictions between individualism and collectivism through the lens of human suffering.

References

Living people Writers from Kanpur English-language poets from Pakistan 20th-century Pakistani poets Poets

Poets A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

Pakistani male poets 20th-century Pakistani male writers Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of East Anglia Alumni of the University of Oxford {{Pakistan-poet-stub