GUEST JUDGES:

Fariha Rashed - Fariha is the grand daughter of the great Urdu poet Noon Meem Rashed. Although she has not been published, Fariha also writes poetry in English. Her writing skills never betrayed her as she started her career as a journalist and now owns/runs the South Asian entertainment based print & online magazine called Ink.

Moniza Alvi - Moniza is a renowned Pakistani-British poet and writer. Famous for her piece " Presents from my aunts in Pakistan ". Moniza has written four poetry collections. The Country at My Shoulder (1993) led to her being selected for the Poetry Society's New Generation Poets promotion. Most recently she published a series of short stories 'How the Stone Found its Voice' (2005), inspired by Kipling's Just So Stories. In 2002 she received a Cholmondeley Award for her poetry.

Samad Khurram - Samad is a well-known youth activist. He is currently an undergraduate at Harvard University who made headlines by refusing to accept an award from the US ambassador to Pakistan, citing continuing drone attacks in the country. He writes oftenly in newspapers about issues concerning Pakistan and was on fore-front in the lawyers’ movement to restore the judiciary dismissed by former President Pervez Musharraf. He also enjoys a great flavour in english poetry and believes understanding Allama Iqbal is a must for understanding the ideology of Pakistan.

Abbas Zaidi - Zaidi was a born artist. Blessed with multi-dimensional skills, he played the famous role of "Hakim Dada" in "Domestic Crusaders". Buzzaz the actor made his first effort at an openly accessible, self-published eBook, titled "The Present - A Book of Learning" which earned him the 'Phenomenal Men of the Web' award in 1999. Residing now in San Francisco and New York City, he remains an avidblogger, activist, a multi-lingual poet, and a student of the "not-so-obvious". He currently serves as associate editor of WadiWallah, and is a contributing editor in many publications. He expresses himself : "Write, my dear, and open your 'self' to others"

Prof. Dr. Ahmed Jawed - Dr. Ahmed is well-known for a life-time dedicated to "Iqbaliat" and poetry. He is the driving force behind Iqbal Academy, Pakistan. He is widely known for his works on the philosophy and ideology of Allama Iqbal.

Prof. Dr. Aasi Karnali - Dr. Aasi is a research scholar, writer & poet from Multan. Many of collections have been published and widely acknowledged. His domain is "Ghazal" form of urdu poetry which has made him one of the leading urdu poets of Pakistan. The poet also believes in reviving the message of Iqbal in the 21st century through different means.

Ammar Masood - Ammar Masood, heir to the poetic and Persian legacy of well known Urdu/Punjabi poet Anwar Masood, has come a long way from hosting and scripting poetry related shows on TV/Radio to writing prose & poetry himself. One of his famous works include " Mohabbat ka Neela Rang ". The writer is now compiling another collection of short stories which would be published very soon.

Shahram Azhar - Shahram is the lead singer of " LAAL " Band. Though, mostly famous for his mesmerizing voice, he is also an inspirational poet and believes the penetrative message of Iqbal must be understood by the youth. His aspiration of using literary skills to bring about a change in Pakistan can also be extracted through his music.

HOST JUDGE:

Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi - Ali is a prolific youth & social activist. He is the founding force of Pakistan Youth Alliance. An aeronautical engineer by profession and an artist by heart, he is compiling a treatise of his spiritual and inspirational poetry under the aegis of " Plastic Tears ". He believes art can be a change-agent to reform mindsets of the youth of Pakistan. He also vows to initiate more projects like " Iqbal's Day Online Poetry Competition 2009 " to encourage young artists to use their respective art-forms to reform Pakistan.

PYA has the proud support of DISNA (Dr. Iqbal Society of North America) for this initiative

View the event poster: https://pya.org.pk/news/68-iqbalsdaypoetry.html