Akhtar Raza Saleemi () is a Pakistani

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Hindko Hindko (, , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Pun ...

, and

Potohari Pahari Pothwari is an Indo-Aryan language variety of the Lahnda group, spoken in the northern half of Pothohar Plateau, in Punjab, Pakistan, as well as in the most of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir and in the western areas of Indian-adminis ...

poet, novelist, writer, critic and editor. His birth name is Muhammad Pervaiz Akhtar (). He is a recognized poet of both

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

and

nazm ''Nazm'' () is a major part of Urdu and Sindhi poetry that is normally written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose-style poems. is a significant genre of Urdu and Sindhi poetry; the other one is known as ghazal. is significantly written ...

. He has published several poetry books and has been appreciated for his work by critics. He stayed in the genre of poetry till 2008 and then started experimenting with the style of

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

writing. His fiction work often combines

magic realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical re ...

and

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

with a special focus on his life in his hometown. The topics of

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

and

dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

s are predominant in his novels. His first novel, ''Jaagein Hain Khawab Mein'' (

: جاگے ہیں خواب میں, Englis: "Awake in a dream") had 1001 paintings b
Wasi Haider
as its cover page. His second novel ''Jandar'' (

: جندر), published in 2017, received the UBL Literary Award for Fiction (2019). The novel has been translated into Brahui and

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

Biography

Akhtar Raza Saleemi was born on 16 June 1974, at Kekot, a village of Haripur district,

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

, Pakistan. His father, Sardar Sher Zaman, is a part-time businessman. He received his early education from his native village. When he was in fifth grade due to the strict behavior and the subsequent punishment of the teacher, he left his education. Afterwards was sent to

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, where his elder brother, Sardar Muhammad Saleem lived and owned a hotel. He resumed his education and in 1991 received his matriculation certificate with 2nd position. Then he moved again to

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

, from where he cleared his FA examination in 1995. Then he moved to

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

and is now settled there. He graduated from

Allama Iqbal Open University Allama Iqbal Open University is a public university in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is named after Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the country's national poet. It is the world's fifth largest institution of higher learning in terms of enrolment, with an a ...

in the Fall 2003. He also did his Masters in

from

University of Sargodha The University of Sargodha (colloquially known as SU) is a public university based in Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. Recognized university University of Sargodha is recognized by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. History In 1916, ''O’ ...

in 2011.

Personal life

He is married to his distant relative's daughter on 24 April 2004. They have two sons - Ayaan Raza Saleemi and Hannan Raza Saleemi - and one daughter, Midhat Raza Saleemi. They live in Islamabad.

Literary career

Saleemi started his literary career in 1991 with a story written for children edition of

Daily Jang The ''Daily Jang'' () is an Urdu language newspaper headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. It is considered one of Pakistan's newspaper of record and a leading newspaper of Pakistan. History It is the oldest newspaper of Pakistan in continuous p ...

. In this span he wrote some stories, critical and non-critical essays, however, at the behest o
Ahmad Hussain Mujahid
he started doing poetry in the genre of

. He has published two books on Urdu ghazals namely: ''Ikhtara'' (Urdu: اختراع) (2003), ''Iratafa'' (Urdu: ارتفاع) (2008) and one full collection of ghazals ''Khushbu Mere Sath Chal Pari Hai'' (Urdu: خوشبو مرے ساتھ چل پڑی ہے ) (2009). Critics have appreciated Saleemi's poetry in the following words: "Saleemi has chosen a difficult genre of the ghazal. It goes without saying that it is very hard to compose effective couplets. He prefers thought to the word". Another critic wrote, "Saleemi portrays a unique blend of reality and dreams expressed with exacerbated sensibility, fine sharpness of his perception, clarity, and splendour of his language." To fully express himself, Saleemi found Ghazal insufficiant, therefore, he forsook it in 2008 and started experimenting with another and more relaxed form of poetry, nazm. He has published a collection of his nazms as ''Khaab Dan'' (Urdu: خواب دان) (2013). Afterwards, he started writing novels too, which he says is his favorite genre because it has no restrictions. He has two novels to his name so far: ''Jaagein Hain Khaab Mein'' (Urdu: جاگے ہیں خواب میں ) (2015) and ''Jandar'' (Urdu: جندر) (2017). On writing novels, Saleemi says:

In all of my works, I like novel-writing the most. When I write novels, it gives me a different kind of intoxication which I have never felt when I am writing something else. This intoxication is very gloomy.

Professional career

Meanwhile, he joined the

Pakistan Academy of Letters The Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) () is a national academy with its main focus on Pakistani literature and related fields. It is the largest and the most prestigious learned society of its kind in Pakistan, with activities throughout the nat ...

(Islamabad) in 2006 and has been working as an Urdu editor since 2013 of Quarterly Magazine ''Adbiyat'' and ''Adbiyat-e-Itfal,'' also being the pioneer of the latter. In addition to this, he acts as a coordinating editor of six magazines issued by the Pakistan Academy of Letters: ''Adbiyat-e-Sindh'' ( Sindhi), ''Adbiyat-e-Balochistan'' ( Baloch)'', Adbiyat-e-KhyberPakhtunkhwa'' (

)'', Adbiyat-e-Punjab'' (

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

, Siraiki,

) and ''Pakistani Literature'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Critical Appreciation

On his first novel (''Jaagein Hain Khaab Mein'')

Mustansar Hussain Tarar Mustansar Hussain Tarar (; ) Sitara-i-Imtiaz, S.I. (born 1 March 1939) is a Pakistani author, travel enthusiast, mountaineer, writer, novelist, columnist, TV host and former actor. Early life Mustansar Hussain Tarar was born in Jokalian on 1 M ...

says: "This novel is a wonderous jump vis-a-vis novel-writing ... It is the dream of Urdu novel-writing that we have seeing for some time now, and now, when it is materialized, we should stand up and welcome it." On his second novel (''Jandar)'',

Iftikhar Arif Iftikhar Hussain Arif (born 21 March 1944) is a Pakistani poet and litterateur of Urdu. His main theme is romantic Urdu poetry and he has headed the Pakistan Academy of Letters and the National Language Authority. Arif has received the Nishan ...

says: Every masterpiece intoxicate its readers and this novel has done just that. Muhammad Hameed Shahid says: "''Jandar'' is very favorite novel; it is one of its kind. In this novel, life is revealed in all its vieled meanings." In addition to the critics reviews, there are many Master's and PhD thesis done on Saleemi's works.

Awards

* Quaid e Aazam literary gold medal for 2009 * Professor Muhammad Shafi Sabir Award (2015) for prose by Abasin Arts Council. * Allah Bakhsh Yousfi Award (2018) for

Prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

by Abasin Arts Council. * UBL Literary Award for

Fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

(2019).

Bibliography

* ''Ikhtara'' 2003 اختراع * ''Irtafa'' 2008 ارتفاع * ''Khushbu marey saath chal pari hay''…2009خوشبو مِرے ساتھ چل پڑی ہے) * ''Khaawab Daan'' 2013 (خواب دان) ( Urdu poetry) * ''Har paasey parchaanwaan maahra''(ہر پاسے پرچھاواں مھاڑا) ( Potohaari poetry) * ''Jaage Hain Khawab Mein''(جاگے ہیں خواب میں) (2015) * Jandar (جندر) 2017 * Lawakh 2023

Edited works

Following are Saleemi's edited works: * ''2011 ki Behtareen Shayari'' (2012)

* ''Ek Mulk Ek Kahani'' (2015)

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

* ''ECO Ke Rukn Mumalik ki Muntakhib Kahaniyan'' (2017
Takhleeqat
* ''Ao Bacho! Suno Kahani'' Vol. 1 & 2 (2020)

References

External links

Quality literary treat! (part 1)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saleemi, Akhtar Raza 1974 births Living people People from Haripur District 20th-century Pakistani poets Urdu-language poets from Pakistan People from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistani novelists Urdu-language novelists