Speakers

Abdul Malik Baloch

Abdul Malik Baloch is the president of the National Party, a member of the Hooth tribe, and was the first non-tribal leader to serve as the 21st Chief Minister of Balochistan (7 June 2013–23 December 2015). He has been an MPA in the Balochistan Assembly thrice and has also served as a senator for six years in Islamabad. He was a member of Nawab Akbar Bugti’s cabinet and served as a provincial education minister.

Adeela Suleman

Adeela Suleman received her BFA from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi in 1999 and before that she did her MA in International Relations from Karachi University in 1995. Suleman worked as Associate Professor and Head of Fine Art Department at The Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan. She is the founding member and Director of Vasl Artists’ Association, Karachi, Pakistan.

Adrian Husain

Adrian Husain was educated in England and Switzerland. He did his BA (Hons.) at New College, Oxford. He received a PhD for a thesis on Shakespeare and Machiavelli from the University of East Anglia and authored the critically acclaimed Politics and Genre in Hamlet (OUP, 2004). He is a winner of the prestigious Guinness Poetry Prize. A selection of his poems was published under the title Desert Album as part of Pakistan’s Jubilee in English series (OUP, 1997). His collection of sonnets titled Italian Window was published in 2017. His next collection of sonnets, Knife of the Tide awaits publication.

Afia Salam

Afia Salam is a Masters in Geography and a career journalist having four decades of experience in print, electronic, and web journalism. She is a LEAD, FNF’s International Academy of Leadership & Australia Awards Fellow, and a member of the IUCN Commission on Education & Communications and the Commission on Economic & Social Policy. She is also a member of the national coordinating body for Marine Protected Areas and the Prime Minister’s advisory body, the National Climate Change Council. She has been highlighting issues related to the environment and climate change through her writings, and advocacy through seminars and moderation of panel discussions and round tables. As a development practitioner, she is associated in a voluntary capacity with Indus Earth Trust and Baanhn Beli as the elected President of the executive committee and Board of Trustees. She can be reached on Twitter as @afiasalam and Afia Salam on LinkedIn.

Afzal Ahmed Syed

A leading contemporary Urdu poet, Afzal Ahmed Syed is well-known for his experimental writing style. He has published three collections of prose poems and one of ghazals. Translations of his poetry have been published in English, Sindhi, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, and German. His Urdu translation of the complete Persian works of Mir Taqi Mir was published by Oxford University Press in 2013 under the title Divan-e-Mir: Farsi maa Urdu Tarjuma. In 2020, he published an Urdu translation of selected Persian verses of Sabak-i-Hindi poets under the title Badeh-i-Dosheeneh.

Ahmad Atta

Ahmad Atta is a poet representing the new generation of Urdu poets who are reinventing the traditions of Urdu ghazal and expressing a new sensibility in poetry. He has taught at several institutions and is currently a lecturer of Urdu at Government Zamindar Post Graduate College, Gujrat, Pakistan. He is also working with A. Sean Pue on ‘Publics of Sound’ (a project of the Michigan State University). He has been published in several literary magazines and is the author of Aankh Bhar Tamasha Hay (2015) and Rang-e-Pur Shor (2020). The young poet was also elected as the secretary of Halqa Arbab-e-Zauq, a prestigious literary organization in Lahore. He is working for the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) as a Field Representative in Pakistan.

Ahmad Shabbar

Ahmad Shabbar is the Founder of the Pakistan Maholiati Tahaffuz Movement (PMTM), a grassroots effort aimed at pushing for Climate Justice. A scientist and an engineer by profession, he completed his BA in Physics from Reed College and a second BSc in Mechanical and Energy Engineering from the University of North Texas. He has worked at the Reed Research Reactor (a research nuclear reactor); and won the top prize at NASA’s Texas Space Grant Consortium.  Ahmad Shabbar now focuses on the terrestrial, tangible plain: mother earth as an environmental activist. He brings his solution-oriented approach to the waste management crisis via his company ‘GarbageCAN’; to the dearth of environmental awareness via his online platform ‘The Environmental’, and lack of understanding of how climate change impacts us via grass-roots outreach efforts through PMTM. He helped organize the first Climate March, helped protect the Buddu and Bandal islands as lead petitioner, and continues to push decision-makers to make the right choice for our and their futures.

‘Our culture, economics, and politics is based on nature. Jahan hai tou jaan hai. For our own sakes, it’s time to give back to nature after exploiting it so.’ – Ahmad Shabbar

Ahmed Rashid

Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist based in Lahore, who has covered Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia for a variety of publications since 1979. He is the author of Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (2012); Descent into Chaos: The US and the Disaster in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia (2008); Jihad (2002); Taliban (2000); and The Resurgence of Central Asia (1994). Both Taliban and Descent into Chaos are on course lists at over 200 universities and defence colleges around the world. He has also recently published a book of his poetry titled This Side of the River (2022). Foreign Policy magazine chose him, twice, as one of the world’s most important 100 Global Thinkers in 2009 and 2010. In December 2009, he was appointed a member of the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists and in 2018 he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group. He has also served on the Board of Advisers for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva for five years.

Ahmer Naqvi

Ahmer Naqvi is a leading consultant, content creator and writer in Pakistani media, specifically in cricket, music, and digital media. He was the COO of Pakistan’s premier audio streaming app and has served several times as a digital media consultant for the country’s main sporting event, the PSL as well as other cricketing events. He also has a decade of experience in broadcast media as well as entertainment and has written for a broad range of foreign and local publications.

Akhlaq Ahmed

Akhlaq Ahmed is a writer, journalist, and advertiser. He was associated with the Jang Group for around 28 years and is known as the longest-serving editor of the weekly ‘Akhbar e Jehan’, the largest circulated Urdu magazine in Pakistan. He won the prestigious All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) Award for Journalism in 1992. Besides being a journalist, he is a prolific short story writer. His Urdu stories have appeared in major literary magazines in Pakistan and India. To date, five collections of his short stories have been published, and the sixth collection is set to appear in April 2023. Akhlaq Ahmed has also translated hundreds of short stories into Urdu for many magazines, including the famous ‘Sabrang’. Currently, he is the Managing Director of Manhill Advertising as well as Star Marketing.

Ali Khan

Ali Khan is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Dean at the Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences at LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences). His research interests vary from labour issues to popular culture in Pakistan focusing particularly on cinema and sports. He is the author of Representing Children: Power, Policy, and the Discourse on Child Labour in the Football Manufacturing Industry of Pakistan (2007). He was also the General Editor for the Oxford University Press series of seven books on Sociology and Social Anthropology in Pakistan. Three major pieces of research resulted in co-authored and co-edited books on cricket and Pakistani cinema viz. Cricket Cauldron (2013); Cinema and Society (2016) and Film and Cinephilia (2020). His latest monograph, Cricket in Pakistan: Nation, Identity and Politics was published by Oxford University Press in 2022. Ali Khan has an MPhil and a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge in England.

Alicia McAuley

Alicia McAuley is an editor and book designer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She studied English at Trinity College Dublin and has over 15 years’ experience in publishing, with an international roster of clients including Cambridge and Oxford University Presses. Her short stories, flash fiction, non-fiction and poetry have appeared in The Irish Times, The Dublin Review, Banshee and elsewhere, often under the pen-name Jane Lavelle, and been shortlisted for various competitions including the Fish Prize. Her short story ‘Gas and Air’ was highly commended by the An Post Irish Book Awards. She is currently at work on a collection of short stories dealing with the darker aspects of pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood; and a novel, examining the immigrant experience in Northern Ireland. She and her husband, who was born and raised in Karachi, have four young children.

Amar Pirzado

Amar Pirzado is a noted poet and writer. He writes in both Sindhi and Urdu languages. He is also a famous media anchor person. He is the author of two poetry books Ishq and Fana and a prose book on the life and contributions of Anwer Pirzado titled Baba Anwer Pirzado (2022). Amar Pirzado is famous for his feminist, romantic, bold poetry on social issues. His poetry is sung by famous Sindhi singers. He was secretary of Sindhi Adabi Sangat Gulshan Hadeed from 2011 to 2012. He has conducted several literary programs and participated in different festivals such as KLF; Aalmi Urdu Conference; Ayaz Melo; Sindh Literature Festival; Adab Festival; Cafe Saqafat of Culture Department, PTV; and Lahooti Melo. He is among the founders of the Anwer Pirzado Academy which has published more than twenty books written by Anwer Pirzado and other writers. From the platform of Anwer Pirzado Academy, Amar has been organising the Anwer Pirzado Festival in his village Balhreji for the last three years. Many of his poems have been translated into Urdu by other poets and he plans to publish his poetry collection in the Urdu Language in the coming years.

Ambareen Hasib Amber

Ambareen Hasib Amber is a lecturer in Urdu, a renowned poet and critic, a TV anchor, and an analyst. She has written five books among which are Dil kay Ufaq per; Asri Adab kay Rujhanat; Urdu mein Taraqi Pasand Tanqeed ka Tahqqiqi Mutala and has recently published an anthology of Urdu poetry. She has received numerous awards including Parveen Shakir’s Aks-e-Khushboo Award; UBL Literary Award; and Anjuman Taraqqi Pasand Musannifeen Award. She has represented Pakistan internationally and has enthralled thousands of people with her poetry that addresses various social issues which she has discussed as a guest panellist on several television shows.

Amber Rahim Shamsi

Amber Rahim Shamsi is Director, Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA). Ms Shamsi is an award-winning multi-media journalist, political commentator, and free speech advocate, with wide-ranging experience in television, radio, online and the print media. She is also an International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) and an International Centre for Excellence in Journalism (ICFJ) Digital fellow. Ms Shamsi has participated thrice in the Jinnah Institute’s India-Pakistan Track II Chaophraya Dialogue. She has hosted three news and current affairs shows on mainstream Pakistani news channels and continues to appear on international and national television channels as a political analyst. She was a bilingual reporter for the BBC World Service, where her work largely focused on human rights. She has also written four research reports and training manuals on women in the media, gender, and conflict reporting. She is a certified e-trainer and is on the advisory board of the Pakistan Press Foundation, a media development organisation.

Anjum Halai

Dr Anjum Halai has a long-standing and international experience in higher education in low-income and middle-income countries like Pakistan and those in East Africa. She obtained her doctoral degree from Oxford University UK. She was an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta Canada (2011-2016) and a research fellow at the Centre for International Education and Development Sussex University UK. Her research interests are in social justice issues in education. She has published widely in the area of gender and education. She led the task force set up at her University to develop a policy on awareness and prevention of gender-based harassment. She is a member of the Advisory Committee on Women’s Leadership Academy at the Aga Khan University (AKU). She is a founding member of the Women’s Leadership Group set up by the National Academy of Higher Education of the Higher Education Commission Pakistan. Anjum Halai plays an active role on several international forums to enable equitable participation in the education of youth, especially young women from disadvantaged contexts. These forums include the International Commission of Mathematical Instruction-Berlin, the Commission of Developing Countries, and the World Academy of Art and Science. As a founding dean (2018-22) Anjum Halai led the development of AKU’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Currently, she is serving as Professor of Education and regional Vice Provost at AKU.

Anwar Maqsood

Anwar Maqsood is a well-known entertainment personality. He is a television scriptwriter, television host, satirist, humourist, and occasional actor. Associated for many years with Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), Maqsood served as a presenter for a variety of shows, including Studio Dhai, Studio Ponay Teen, and Show-Sha. He has written scripts for several television series and plays, including Fifty-Fifty, Show Time, Aangan Terha, Fanoon-e-Latifey, Talaash, Aisa Bhi Hota Hai, Sitara aur Mehrunnisa, and Nadan Nadia. His stage plays, which were a resounding success, include Pawney 14 August, Sawa 14 August, Anwar Maqsood ka Dharna, and Siachen. Maqsood has also worked as a director and presenter at ARY TV for almost 15 years. His most popular program was Loose Talk. He is a recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz award.

Anwar Shaoor

Anwar Shaoor is one of the most prolific Urdu poets of our time. He has a large following amongst admirers of Urdu poetry and has received high accolades from critics and contemporaries alike. With three collections of ghazals to his credit, Andokhta, Mashq-e-Sukhan, and Mee Raqsam, his work is read in literary journals around the world.

Arshad Saeed Husain

Arshad Saeed Husain is the Managing Director of Oxford University Press, Pakistan. He has over 29 years of broad-based commercial experience working for leading multinational companies in the Pharmaceuticals, FMCG and Life Sciences sectors. Prior to joining OUP, Arshad served as the CEO of Aman Health Care Services, and as the Managing Director of Abbott Laboratories Pakistan Ltd. He was associated with Syngenta Pakistan Ltd. as Managing Director and with PT Syngenta, Indonesia as President Director. He has served in senior leadership positions at GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Ltd and ICI Pakistan Ltd. Arshad has served as the President of the American Business Council and as Chairman of the Pharma Bureau of the OICCI. He was the founding member of the Swiss Business Council and Chairman, CropLife Pakistan. He is a former President and Member of the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Karachi Metropolitan.

Arshad Waheed

Arshad Waheed is a novelist and translator based in Islamabad. He writes in both English and Urdu languages. His first novel Gumaan was published in 1995. His latest novel Other Days was published in 2021. He translated Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel Love in the time of Cholera into Urdu as Waba Ke Dinon Mein Mohabbat. He also translated Milan Kundera’s Immortality into Urdu as Baqa e Dawam and The Art of the Novel as Novel ka Fun. He is the Director of the Institute of Social Policy, Islamabad, and works on social policy, human rights, and development issues with multi- and bilateral development organizations, nationally and internationally. He has contributed to national and regional research projects on various subjects related to poverty and vulnerability, indigenous people, and human rights. He also writes on social and literary issues in various newspapers and journals.

Asghar Nadeem Syed 

Asghar Nadeem Syed is a poet, novelist, and a teacher of film and theatre. He is the author of “Tooti Hui Tanab Udhar” (2019) and has recently published a novel titled, “Dasht-e-Imkaan”. Best known for his popular TV drama serials, such as ‘Chand Grahan’, ‘Nijaat’, ‘Ghulam Gardish’, and ‘Piyaas’, Asghar Nadeem Syed has written plays depicting the feudal culture/society in rural Sindh and Punjab; exploitation of women; the oligarchic structure in Pakistan comprising politicians, feudals, media moguls, and the bureaucracy. He received the President’s Pride of Performance in 2006.

Ashfaq Hussain

Ashfaq Hussain is a well-known poet and writer of Canadian-Pakistani origin. He is considered a pioneer of Urdu literary activities in Canada and has published a highly acclaimed monthly literary journal, Urdu International, under the guidance of Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Currently, he is Associate Editor of a children’s book series, a joint project of Multicultural Department, Government of Canada, and the Urdu Chair of McGill University, to prepare Urdu reading and writing materials for Canadian students as well as a teaching manual for Urdu teachers. In 2011, he was honoured with the prestigious President of Pakistan’s Pride of Performance Award. Some of his publications include Aitabar (1979), Aashian Gum Karda (2009), Mein Gaya Waqt Naheen Hoon (2010).

Asma Mundrawala

Asma Mundrawala is a visual artist and theatre practitioner with a DPhil degree from the University of Sussex UK. Her interdisciplinary practice intersects the visual arts, theatre and performance, and education. Her research interests in popular culture, public spheres, Urdu literature, and its performative traits critically inform her creative practice and approach to art education. She teaches at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and is a Professor in the Department of Fine Art. Asma is the co-founder and creative director of Zambeel Dramatic Readings. Her current practice renders texts from Urdu literature in a dramatized form to a live audience. She has also initiated and curates the ongoing project Zambeelnaama, a monthly online audio channel for Zambeel Dramatic Readings.

Asma Shirazi

Asma Shirazi is a journalist and a senior anchorperson. She has a postgraduate degree in Political Science from the University of the Punjab, Lahore. She began her career at PTV in 2000 and then joined the launch team of GEO News in 2002. She worked at all major independent networks operating in Pakistan such as ARY News (2007); SAMAA TV (2010); and Dawn News Television (2012), before joining Aaj News as senior anchorperson and editor of current affairs where she hosts an authoritative talk show ‘Faisla Aap Ka’. She received the renowned Peter Mackler Award for Courage and Ethical Journalism in 2014. In her 20 years as a journalist, she has faced physical dangers, death threats and intimidation tactics, earning the respect of her superiors and colleagues alike, never giving in to pressures, whether they came from authorities or extremists. Shirazi is Pakistan’s first female war correspondent who covered the 2006 Lebanon-Israel War from the front for Geo News. She is also the first female parliamentary correspondent for electronic media in Pakistan. Her first broadcast show on parliamentary affairs titled, ‘Parliament Cafeteria,’ was widely popular across Pakistan until it was banned by the Musharraf regime. Asma Shirazi is a regular columnist for BBC News Urdu and has recently authored a book titled, Kahani Barray Ghar Ki.

Athar Abbas

Served in the Pakistan Army from 1976 to 2012 and retired at the rank of Major General. Athar Abbas has served on the faculties of Staff College as well as Defence University. Before retiring from the army, he served as Chief Military Spokesperson and Director General, ISPR. He delivers lectures on national security, counter-terrorism/violent extremism, civil-military relations and media’s role in a conflict. He comments on these subjects in national and international publications. An active member of the Pakistan-India Track-II diplomacy, his last assignment was as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Ukraine.

Atif Badar

Atif Badar is an extremely versatile and talented artist with a wide range of experience from stage, voice-overs, and mini screen to a film ‘Ramchand Pakistani’. He is an acting coach, storyteller, writer, and dubbing artist too. He has worked extensively with great passion. He started his career as an actor in 1993 with Tehrik-e-Niswan and worked in numerous famous theatre plays with notable directors. He also worked for four years with the Katha theatre group also. Currently, he is working as a theatre and creative movement teacher, writer, and director in three well-reputed schools. As a theatre teacher, he conducted many theatre workshops in Pakistan with PLF and also conducted two theatre workshops in Singapore. He conducted many theatre workshops for the Teacher’s Learning Festival in Karachi and Lahore. Since 2017, he is teaching theatre, Drama, and Acting at Artrageous Summer of Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and also taught acting in the IVS Visual Media filmmaking course. A few years ago he received PLF Outstanding Award and recently he received the Best Teachers Award in Karachi. As a culinary expert, his recipes have been published in Pakistan’s famous newspapers and magazines.

Attiya Dawood 

A celebrated Sindhi poet, writer, and activist. Through her writings, Attiya Dawood highlights the oppression of women in Pakistani society in the name of tradition. Her poems have been translated into English, Urdu, and German. She has published several books, the latest being Sindhi Adab: Aik Mukhtasar Tareekh (2019). She is a recipient of the Sindh Adeeb Award from Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli Ain Sahit Sabha, India.

Ayesha Tammy Haq

Ayesha Tammy Haq is a Barrister-at-Law and for 13 years, a media personality. She has practised law in the UK, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the USA and has worked on several international projects. A member of the Vision 2020 Think tank of the Government of Pakistan, she has worked on policy and governance matters. She hosted 24Seven on Business Plus, where she interviewed presidents, prime ministers, political leaders, and policymakers. She writes opinion pieces for several publications and has hosted a radio show. She has been the CEO of Fashion Pakistan and organized Pakistan’s first-ever fashion week in 2009. At present, she heads the Pharma Bureau, the association of research-based multinational pharmaceutical companies operating in Pakistan.

Bakhtawar Mazhar

Bakhtawar Mazhar is a trained theatre practitioner, film actress, poet, acting teacher and aspiring writer. She has acted in several theatre productions with renowned theatre directors like Zia Mohyeddin, Gregory Thomas, Rahat Kazmi, Khalid Ahmed, and Sunil Shankar. Her involvement in feature films has been with the likes of Shoaib Mansoor, Hamza Bangash, Iram Parveen Bilal, and Fawzia Mirza. Bakhtawar co-wrote and co-directed a feminist version of Heer Ranjha, titled ‘The Heer Project’ for NAPA International Theatre Festival. She currently teaches at the Arts Council Theatre Academy, Karachi.

Bee Gul

Bee Gul is an award-winning screenwriter and director, she has written some critically acclaimed plays and films for television such as ‘Talkhiyaan’, ‘Pehchaan’, ‘Kaun Qamar Ara’, ‘Firdous ki Dozakh’, ‘Dar Si Jaati Hai Sila’, and ‘Raqeeb Se’. Apart from television, she has written some unconventional theatre scripts. She has written scripts for feature films namely ‘Laloolal.com’ and ‘Intezar’. She won the Best Telefilm Writer Award for ‘Kaun Qamar Ara’ at the 2nd Hum Telefilm Awards (2015). For ‘Dar Si Jaati Hai Sila’ Bee Gul won a LUX Style Award (2019) for Best TV Writer and Best Drama Writer at the Hum TV Awards (2019). She is a visiting faculty at the Media Science Department, SZABIST, Iqra University, and NCA, Lahore and the Project Head of the Khan Academy Urdu (Pakistan chapter).

Behroze Sabzwari

Behroze Sabzwari is a well-known film/television actor. He began his career at Radio Pakistan as a radio presenter. In the late 1970s, he began his acting career as a child artist in a live television play Dadajan Nanajan. He gained recognition with the role of Nausha in Khuda Ki Basti (1974). He became a household name with the role of Qabacha in Tanhaiyaan. In 2009, Behroze Sabzwari received the Pride of Performance for his services to the Pakistani television industry for more than 40 years.

Bi Bi Ameena

Bi Bi Ameena is currently working at the International Islamic University, Islamabad as in charge of the Centre for Language Teaching (Faculty of Languages and Literature) and as a lecturer in Urdu. She has fourteen years of teaching and research experience and has presented papers at national and international conferences. She has contributed sixteen research articles to renowned research journals and is on the review board of various national research journals. Ameena is a sub-editor of Me’yar and associate editor of the Index of Urdu Journals. She has reviewed the syllabus and curriculum of the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project, as a subject expert and has developed the syllabus and curriculum of Urdu language and linguistics for the International Islamic University, Islamabad. She is the author of three books titled, Khalida Hussain: Shakhsiat aur Fun (2017); Urdu Lughat (Tareekhi Usool Per): Tehqeeqi aur Tanqeedi Mutalia (2020); and one of the co-authors of Lisaniyat: Aik Jame’ Ta’aruf (2022). Her book Urdu Lughat (Tareekhi Usool Per): Tehqeeqi aur Tanqeedi Mutalia won the 2020 Baba-i-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq Award for research and criticism from the Pakistan Academy of Letters.

Bilal Maqsood

Bilal Maqsood is an artist, singer, musician, songwriter, and composer. An alumnus of the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, he is the son of Anwar Maqsood and Imrana Maqsood. He is a member of the very popular Pakistani pop band Strings which was dissolved in 2021. He has also directed a number of music videos. For Bilal and his band Strings, success came in 1992 after the launch of the song Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar, the song was an instant hit and so was Strings. Strings made its entry into the Bollywood music scene in 2006. Strings proved popular and were named Asia’s favourite band at the MTV Asia Awards. They were the first Pakistani band to perform at Rashtrapati Bhavan in India.

Bilal Zahoor

Bilal Zahoor is the founder and editorial director of Folio Books, a Lahore-based independent publishing house. He is a teacher of Philosophy at the Department of Liberal Arts, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore. He is the editor of a widely reviewed volume on Pakistan, Rethinking Pakistan: A 21st-Century Perspective (Anthem Press, 2020; Folio Books, 2019). His research interests lie in the intersection of philosophy, ecology and technology. He takes interest in indigenous epistemologies and poetics and intends to explore alternative ontologies to lay a new foundation for human-nature relations. Zahoor is a member of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party, a grassroots anti-capitalist project in Pakistan. He also occasionally contributes to New Politics, Dawn, and The News International.

Christie Marie Lauder

Christie Marie Lauder is an Assistant Professor in Communications and Design at Habib University, where she teaches creative writing and journalism. Her work has appeared in Persephone Magazine, Peauxdunque Review, Jezebel, and Refinery 29, among other outlets. She has served on the board of The Salam Award and has been a speaker at the Adab Fest 2022. She writes frequently about the intersections of pop culture and gender, genre movies, and adaptation.

Damon Galgut

Damon Galgut was born in 1963 in Pretoria, South Africa. He has published nine books. He has been shortlisted for many prizes, on three occasions for the Booker Prize, which he won in 2021 for his latest novel, The Promise. He lives in Cape Town.

David Waterman

A professor at La Rochelle University, France, where he is a member of the research team D2iA (Asian Dynamics, Interactions, Interculturality, in collaboration with Bordeaux Montaigne University). David Waterman is also the director of the University Asia Pacific Institute, and co-director of the PhD program in the Humanities. He is the author of Where Worlds Collide: Pakistani Fiction in the New Millennium (OUP, 2015). Dr Waterman continues to work on Pakistani history, culture, and literature in English.

Ehsan Saya

Ehsan Saya is the Managing Director of Daraz, Pakistan’s largest e-commerce marketplace. He brings over 13 years of experience across industries like investment banking, logistics, and e-commerce. Under Ehsan’s leadership, Daraz was awarded the Gender Diversity Award by the Pakistan Business Council for spearheading efforts on gender diversity, inclusion, and equity. Prior to joining Daraz four years ago, Ehsan lived in Canada where he was the co-founder of JoeyCo, a logistics startup. Before starting JoeyCo, Ehsan was an investment banker at BMO Capital Markets and Origin Merchant Partners, completing over 10 mergers/acquisitions for some of Canada’s largest companies. Ehsan holds an Honours in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business (University of Western Ontario). He has served as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives for the Government of Pakistan.

Ejaz Haider

A journalist since 1991, Ejaz Haider has held several editorial positions such as News Editor, The Friday Times and Executive Editor, Daily Times. Haider has also hosted TV talk shows on Dawn News, Samaa, Capital TV, and Indus News. He was a Ford Scholar at ACDIS (Programme in Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1997) and a visiting fellow at the Foreign Policy Studies Programme at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC (2002-3). Haider has written extensively for publications at home and abroad. He is a regular commentator on national and foreign TV channels. His areas of interest include defence and foreign policies, theories and concepts of war, international relations, literature, and satire. He is currently Senior Resident Fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies and Policy Research at the University of Lahore.

Faisal Siddiqi

Faisal Siddiqi is a leading constitutional, civil and human rights lawyer who practices at the Supreme Court and High Courts of Pakistan. Siddiqi graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences and read law at the University of Cambridge. He is one of the main founders of the Rasheed Rizvi Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights, and the Legal Aid Foundation for Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault, where he directly oversees the operations of both organisations. He also regularly writes for the Pakistani daily newspaper Dawn and has been a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science and McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Faiza Butt

Born in 1973 in Lahore, Faiza Butt attended the National College of Arts in her hometown, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Painting in 1993. She then attended the Slade School of Fine Art, in London, where she received her master’s with Distinction.

Throughout her vast career as an artist, Faiza Butt has touched upon a variety of themes and topics for her artwork. From images of Iranian wrestlers to mug shots of Muslim men found in newspapers and magazines, Butt focuses on exaggerating and beautifying her subject matter, portraying them as a source of enjoyment and gratification. Butt’s Pakistani roots are prevalent throughout her work, whether she is creating works with the painstaking technique of tiny dots, very reminiscent of the pardokht style in miniature painting, or commenting on the social, gender, and political issues faced by young Pakistanis.

Faiza Butt’s impressive career has established her as one of the top contemporary South Asian artists, with shows spanning London, Los Angeles, New York, Lahore, Karachi, New Delhi, and Dubai.

Farah Yasmeen Shaikh

Farah Yasmeen Shaikh is an internationally acclaimed Kathak artist – performer, choreographer and instructor, and Founder & Artistic Director of Noorani Dance. As a performer, Farah is known for her evocative storytelling, technical precision, delicacy, and grace, with two decades of training from the late Pandit Chitresh Das. Farah has gone on to develop a unique artistic voice, often addressing topics of historical and social relevance, while also maintaining the classical elements of Kathak. Throughout the United States and internationally, Farah performs her own traditional and innovative works, most notably, The Forgotten Empress (based on the life of 17th Century Mughal Empress Noor Jahan), The Partition Project (based on the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition), and Nazaakat aur Taaqat—Delicate Power. Since 2015, Farah has been consistently performing and teaching throughout Pakistan—engaging in meaningful exchanges with artists, organizations, students, and art-loving and desiring Pakistanis. Performances and teaching engagements in Pakistan include the International Faiz Festival, Islamabad Arts Fest, Indus Valley School of the Arts, T2F (the Second Floor), the Urdu Conference, the Women’s Conference, private events, and many more.

Farah Zia

Farah Zia has worked as a print journalist for 27 years. She began her career at The Frontier Post and later joined The News on Sunday. She rose to become the editor of The News on Sunday and stayed there for more than twelve years, producing a magazine of outstanding quality and merit, before she finally resigned in 2019. She comments on politics, literature, culture, the state of media and human rights. Her work, including fiction, has been a part of recently published books. She did her master’s in English Literature from Government College Lahore, where she was editor of the college magazine the Ravi. She later obtained another master’s degree in International Relations from SOAS, London. She is currently working as the Director at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. All her writings for The News on Sunday are available at http://tns.thenews.com.pk/writers/farah-zia/

Farid Panjwani

Dr Farid Panjwani, Dean, Institute for Educational Development, Pakistan, has a DPhil in philosophy of education from the University of Oxford. He also holds an MA in Education and International Development from the Institute of Education, University College London and an MBA and a BBA from the Institute of Business Administration, University of Karachi.

Faseeh Bari Khan

Faseeh Bari Khan, a notable playwright, director, and producer has been a household name in the Pakistani entertainment industry for many years now. He has worked as creative head for different mainstream TV channels and has directed and written multiple plays, films, and dramas for the Pakistani TV industry. His work has been termed revolutionary, ‘ahead of its time’, and even controversial. He hates the idea of self-censorship and believes in writing from the heart instead of playing to the gallery. Some of his work was outright banned because he refused to censor it. Faseeh believes that content, instead of being censored, should be certified for a specific audience. To save his work from censorship, Faseeh launched his YouTube channel and named it ‘Kabaarr Khaana’. Since its launch, Kabaarr Khaana has gained almost 20,000 permanent subscribers with multiple mini-series running successfully and winning hearts globally. Faseeh not only provides censor-free content but has also created a content ecosystem locally. Creating a space where new ideas and experiments are encouraged, accepted, and carried out, thus, paving way for magic.

Faysal Chaudary, Murtaza Chaudary, and Mustafa Chaudhary

Faysal Chaudary, Murtaza Chaudary, and Mustafa Chaudary are the pioneers of the first satirical political talk show, the ‘4-Man Show’ in Pakistan. From here on they have gone on to films, stand-up, and direction. Faysal is the writer behind the team and the backbone of the trio. Murtaza is the director and concept head. Mustafa is also a writer and a great talent in stand-up, mimicry, and acting. The sudden and unexpected popularity of their TV show on AAJ TV, the ‘4-Man Show’ was their take-off point. They moved on to create several hits like ‘Banana News Network’, ‘Media Azaad Hai’, ‘Lagti Ha Tu Lagay’, and ‘Dil Pay Mat Lay’ which were extremely popular. They have also made the critically acclaimed film, ‘Quetta’.

Fazil Jamili

Fazil Jamili is a renowned Urdu poet known for his Ghazal steeped in the classical tradition and Nazm encompassing both existential and universal issues. He is a journalist by profession, currently working as Senior Digital Editor at Interlink Multi Media (IMM), a digital company of Jang / Geo Media Group. He has worked with Samaa TV as Editor Content and daily Aaj Kal as Resident Editor. He actively participates in the journalists’ rights movement and was elected, four times, President of the Karachi Press Club. One of his poems was selected for an anthology ‘The World Poetry Tree’ of more than 400 leading poets from across the world. It was launched at the Dubai Expo 2020. Jamili is the author of Gumnam Aadmi Ka Bayan (Unknown Person’s Narrative) a poetry collection published in 2017.

George Fulton

George Fulton first came to Pakistan in 1997 and returned in 2002 as a BBC producer for Question Time and Hard Talk Pakistan for BBC World News. He again returned in 2003 at a time when President Musharraf was liberalising the media and joined a fledging young channel by the name of GEO. Here he wrote and presented Pakistan’s first reality show/documentary/travelogue ‘George ka Pakistan’. He followed this up by producing and writing the satirical news quiz, ‘News Views and Confused’, before finding himself as the presenter of AAJ TV’s ‘Kiran aur George morning show’. He currently runs a digital content platform called ‘Desi George’ and is currently working on a remote recruitment platform.

Ghazala Rahman Rafiq

Dr Ghazala Rahman Rafiq is at present engaged in research projects pertaining to public education in this fast-changing world that requires fresh education modules which have the potential to encourage societies’ meaningful development. She believes we need a new cadre of teachers trained in ethical and moral education psychology to take on the task of molding young citizens of Pakistan. Until recently she was the Founding Director of the Sindh Abhyas Academy (SAA, 2012-2021), an institute that focused on Sindh Studies involving research and teaching, about all aspects of Sindh, comprehensively, to undergraduates. She is the Founding Publisher of Sindh Abhyas Academy Research International Journal. Ghazala Rahman earned her master’s (2003) and PhD (2010) in Education Leadership and Organization with a second emphasis in Applied Linguistics from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She is a Founder Member of the Women’s Action Forum (1981) and remained an active member of its working committee till 1993. She is a member of the Institute of World Culture in California. Her work includes raising awareness, globally, about the liberating philosophies within lost and thriving cultures of the world.

Ghazi Salahuddin

Ghazi Salahuddin is a senior journalist who writes a weekly column for The News. Before he became the launch editor of The News in Karachi in February 1991, he served Dawn in a number of important positions, including News Editor. During the martial law of General Ziaul Haq, his column ‘Karachi Diary’ was a leading voice of dissent. He has also been associated with the electronic media and was on the panel of PTV’s Kasauti quiz show. In recent years, he hosted a programme on books on Geo TV. Mr Salahuddin is also a social activist and human rights defender. He is a recipient of the President’s Pride of Performance Award in journalism and was presented with the Bibliophile of the Year Award 2011 by the National Book Foundation.

Ghias Khan

Ghias Khan is the 4th President & CEO of Engro Corporation. Since he came on board at the end of 2016, Ghias has been instrumental in revamping Engro’s strategy, culture, and global outreach. In 2022, Ghias was also elected President of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OICCI). Prior to Engro, Ghias was CEO of Inbox Business Technologies, an enterprise technology company that he co-founded in 2001 and remained associated with till 2015. Currently, Ghias serves as Chairman on the Boards of Engro Fertilizers, Engro Polymer & Chemicals, Engro Enfrashare, and Engro Energy Limited. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Karachi Port Trust and Engro Foundation—the social investment arm of Engro Corporation. He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi.

Hadeel Obaid

Hadeel Obaid is an avid cricket follower and the founder of KheloKricket—a platform for the development of women’s and amateur men’s cricket on a grassroots level. Hadeel first started writing on cricket in 2013 for publications such as CricInfo, Wisden, and Dawn amongst others before she launched KheloKricket in late 2015—she also served as a board member of the Sindh Cricket Association. She graduated from Smith College in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Economics and is the Sales Director of Towellers Limited, Pakistan’s only women-run and owned textile manufacturing business.

Hameed Shahid

Muhammad Hameed Shahid is a leading fiction writer and literary critic. His first writings were published while he was still at school and his first book was published when he was a university student. He has authored several collections of short stories like Band Ankhoon Say Pare, Janam Jahanam, Margzaar, Aadmi, Gandam Ki Mehak and two novels, Mitti Adam Khati Ha and Jang mein Mohabbat Ki Tasveer Nahein Banti. He also has several non-fiction books to his credit such as  Adbi Tanaziaat, Urdu Afsana: Soorat o Maana, Urdu Fiction Naye Mubahis, Kahani aur Llosa say Muamla etc. His short fiction has been anthologized nationally and internationally and has been translated into several languages. He has also translated global fiction and poetry from English into Urdu.  His books were shortlisted for both the 6th UBL Literary Excellence and Karachi Literature Festival awards (2016) and was declared a winner at the UBL Literary Excellence Award in 2017. He received Tamgha-e-Imtiaz from the President of Pakistan in 2017. His recently published autobiography is titled, “Khushboo Ki Dewar Kay Peechay”.

Hameeda Shaheen

Hameeda Shaheen—an award-winning poet, prose writer, critic, and researcher—was born in Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. She graduated with a master’s degree in Arts from the University of the Punjab, Lahore and joined the Punjab Education Department. She has been serving in the field of education for the last 32 years. She started writing poetry at an early age and rose to literary prominence in the 1980s. She has authored many poetry and prose books such as Dastak, Dasht e Wajood, and Zinda Hoon; prose books are Dosti (short stories), Meri Aapi (novella), Mubadiat e Islam, Harf Kay Roobaru (essays), to name a few. She is the recipient of several awards including Hakeem Muhammad Saeed Adabi Award, Aitbar e Fann Award, Nishan e Adab Award, and Bazm e Amal Award.

Hamid Khan

Hamid Khan is a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and a founding partner of Cornelius, Lane & Mufti—a leading law firm in Pakistan. He is the former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan (2001–3), and of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (1992–3). He regularly lectures on various legal subjects at the University of the Punjab, the Civil Services Academy, the Administrative Staff College, and the National Institute of Public Administration. He is an Ebert and DAAD Fellow, and a member of the Hague Academy of International Law. He is the author of A History of the Judiciary in Pakistan, 2nd Edition (OUP 2023); Comparative Constitutional Law (OUP 2022); The Islamic Law of Inheritance, 2nd Edition (OUP 2021); Principles of Administrative Law, 2nd Edition (OUP 2020); and The Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan, 3rd Edition (OUP 2017).

Hani Baloch

Hani Baloch—a social activist, human rights defender, and trainer of basic fundamental rights—is the chairperson of Zindman Welfare Organization: Small Action=Big Change, an organization which creates awareness about mental health, menstrual hygiene, sexual abuse, family planning, women’s issues, and empowerment. Hani is the author of a book titled Zind Ae Aadink (The Mirror of Life) based on women’s issues and diseases. She began writing when she was in the 7th grade, under the mentorship of Prof. Ghulam Hussain Saba Dashtyari, who encouraged and motivated her to write. Hani is a recipient of the 25 Under 25 National Award, an initiative of The Little Art to recognize exceptional young women under the age of 25 who have stories of passion and resilience to inspire young girls. She has achieved many certificates and awards and tokens of excellence for her volunteering services. Presently, she is working on flood relief work.

Harris Khalique

Harris Khalique is a leading Urdu and English language poet, essayist, and columnist. He has published nine collections of verse and two books of nonfiction including Crimson Papers: Reflections on Struggle, Suffering, and Creativity in Pakistan. His poetry has been anthologized internationally and translated into several languages. He is a recipient of the President’s Award for Pride of Performance (2018) and the UBL Literary Excellence Award (2013) in the category of Urdu poetry for his collection Melay Mein. He has worked professionally and voluntarily for community development and human rights. Currently, he is the Secretary-General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Haya Fatima Iqbal

Haya Fatima Iqbal is an Academy and two-time Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker. She directs, produces, and lenses films across Pakistan. Haya is a Global Media Makers Fellow, an Acumen fellow and a Fulbright alum. She holds a master’s in News & Documentary from New York University. Haya is an Assistant Professor of Practice at Habib University, and also trains people in storytelling and filmmaking internationally. Haya is the Co-Founder of the Documentary Association of Pakistan (DAP), an initiative to make the documentary medium more accessible to people all over Pakistan.

Hoori Noorani

Hoori Noorani runs the Karachi publishing house Maktaba-e-Danyal, which she inherited from her late father Malik Noorani on his death. Following her early education in Karachi, her love for literature and linguistics led her towards a master’s degree in philology, with a major in Russian and World literature, from the People’s Friendship University in Moscow. Upon her return to Karachi after graduating in 1983, she did a short stint as a teacher of Russian language at the Russian Cultural Centre before joining her father’s publishing business. Maktaba-e-Danyal is known for having published renowned authors like Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi, Syed Sibte Hassan, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Iftikhar Arif, Fehmida Riaz, Habib Jalib and many others. They have also published the works of authors from India. Currently, they are working on a series of translations into Urdu from world Literature as well as Pakistani authors writing in English. Ms Noorani is a trained classical dancer. She has also translated Henrich Borovik’s famous play Interview in Buenos Aires from Russian into Urdu.

Huma Baqai

Prof. Dr Huma Baqai is the Rector of the Millennium Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship (MiTE), Karachi. She has previously served as an Associate Professor of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts, IBA, Karachi. Her teaching and research experience spans a period of twenty-five years. She is a scholar, reviewer, author, and co-editor of two books titled Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations: Pitfalls and Way Forward (2021) and Making Sense of Post-COVID-19 Politics (2020). She is also the author of twenty-nine national and international research articles published in research journals. She has been associated with the electronic and print media for twenty-plus years. She is also a certified corporate trainer and content developer working actively as a corporate trainer for the last fifteen years. In addition, Dr Baqai serves on several advisory and governance boards.

Humera Naz

Humera Naz is currently Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Karachi. She has done her postdoc from CEIAS-EHESS, Paris. She has extensive teaching and research experience and has presented research papers at numerous conferences and seminars of national and international repute. Some of her research work has been published internationally and some are under process for publication as chapters in different books and newspapers including the daily Dawn. She is also a member of the Research Projects Review Committee of the HEC, the Editorial and Executive Boards of some HEC-recognized journals, and departmental review committees of different other Pakistani universities. She is the author of the recently published Sindh under the Mughals (OUP 2023), and her forthcoming book is Sindh under the Kalhoras (OUP 2023).

Iftikhar Arif

Iftikhar Arif is a prominent Urdu poet, scholar, and literary personality. Several collections of Iftikhar Arif’s poetry have been published, including the rendition of his poetry into English, titled ‘Written in the Season of Fear’ (OUP, 2003). A former head of the Pakistan Academy of Letters, National Language Authority, and the National Book Foundation, he has also been President of the ECO Cultural Institute in Tehran, Iran. He is the former head of National Language Promotion Department, National History and Literary Heritage Division, Islamabad. He has received numerous awards, including the President’s Pride of Performance Award. ‘Baagh-i-Gul-i-Surkh’ is his latest offering.

Iftikhar H. Malik

Professor Iftikhar H. Malik, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, is Professor Emeritus in the School of Writing, Publishing, and the Humanities at Bath Spa University, where he taught history for 27 years. Earlier, during 1989-94, he was a Senior Member at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and since 2003 is an MCR at Wolfson College, Oxford. With doctoral and post-doctoral training at Michigan State, Columbia and UC, Berkeley, he has published 20 books and several research papers on historical and contemporary subjects. His most recent book is Curating Lived Islam in the Muslim World: British Scholars, Sojourners and the Sleuths (Routledge 2021). In November 2022, his book The Silk Road and Beyond: Narratives of a Muslim Historian (OUP, 2020), received the UBL Award for the best non-fiction work in English. His other research works include Pashtun Identity and Geopolitics in Southwest Asia: Pakistan and Afghanistan since 9/11 (Anthem, 2016 & 2017); Pakistan: Democracy, Terror and the Building of a Nation (New Holland Publishers, 2010); The History of Pakistan (Greenwood Press, 2008); and Crescent between Cross and Star: Muslims and the West after 9/11 (OUP, 2006). The St. Antony’s Series in Oxford published three of his volumes on South Asia during the 1990s, whereas Emel Books issued his Urdu work, Qulzam kay Uss Paar in 2018. Iftikhar’s two volumes published by Pluto and Vanguard, respectively, focus on Muslim communities in Europe and the United States.

Ikram Sehgal

Being the first Pakistani Prisoner of War to escape from India in 1971 Ikram Sehgal subsequently got a battlefield promotion to the rank of Major on 13 December 1971 while commanding a rifle company in the Thar Desert. A regular Speaker at Defence Services Institutions, National Defence University PAF Air War College, Pakistan Naval War College, National Defence College, Bangladesh and various International Think Tanks in the USA, UK, Europe, Singapore, Sri Lanka, etc.

As Chairman Ikram Sehgal oversees two of the largest private security companies in the Pathfinder Group Security Services Division (SSD) and the most innovative IT companies in the Financial Services and Technology Division (FSTD). VRG has been recognised by the Edison Alliance of the World Economic Forum (WEF) of which he is a member, as a possible Lighthouse country and placed third for ‘digital financial inclusion’ in the world with nearly 7.5 million accounts Asaan Mobile Account (AMA).

He has been hosting a regular Pakistan Breakfast for Pakistan’s heads of state, government and other government ministers, prominent personalities, etc. at WEF’s Annual Meeting at Davos for 20 years. Formerly Chairman Karachi Council of Foreign Affairs (KCFR), he has now been unanimously elected Patron-in-Chief KCFR. He is on WEF’s Board of Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI), formerly he was also part of WEF’s Global Agenda Council for ‘Counter-Terrorism’ for many years. He is Co-Chairman of the ‘Pakistan Committee’ of the Swiss Asian Chamber of Commerce, Geneva. A Director of the EastWest Institute, a US-based think tank for over 15 years (now merged with other think tanks), he is on the Executive Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors since the last decade, Ikram Sehgal is Vice Chairman, Board of Management Quaid-i-Azam House Museum (Flagstaff House), Karachi. He served on the Board of Directors of Bank Alfalah since its inception for sixteen years. Elected Chairman of K-Electric in January 2019, he has been associated as Director BAB of IOM, Geneva.

A regular contributor of articles in newspapers including the Daily Times, Express Tribune, Daily Express, Ausaf, Taqat, Khabrain, Intekhab, Ittehad, and Awami Awaz (Sindhi) as well as the South Asian Monitor (Malaysia). Ikram Sehgal has also written regularly for The Nation, Nawa-i-Waqt, The News, and Daily Jang for several years. He appears regularly on Current Affairs programmes on television in his capacity as a defence and security analyst.

Imrana Maqsood

Imrana Maqsood has written three cookbooks, twenty-two children’s supplementary readers in Urdu, and is the co-author of “Karachi Halwa aur Badayun ke Pairay”. She is a three-time winner of the President’s Award of the National Book Foundation for children’s supplementary readers. She is the author of, “Uljhe Suljhe Anwar” a biography of her celebrated husband Anwar Maqsood, “Subah ka Nashta, Shaam ki Chai: Imrana Maqsood kay Sath” and the recently published new biographical book titled “Doosri Mulaqat”.

Inaam Nadeem

A poet, writer, translator, and teacher by profession, Inaam Nadeem has eight books to his credit including a volume of ghazals. His first book Dar-e-Khawab received the Aks-e-Khushbu Poetry Prize in 2003. He has translated many English novels into Urdu including Omar Hamid Shahid’s The Prisoner and Rabisankar Bal’s Dozakhnama and A Mirrored Life. He has also translated and edited a volume of short stories by renowned Hindi fiction writer Bhisham Sahni. His literary essays and articles about music are published frequently. He has also compiled an anthology about Asif Farrukhi, selected storied of Zakia Mashhadi, and complete works of poet Akbar Masoom. His latest book is a research-based anthology of Urdu prose poems in Pakistan. Inaam Nadeem lives in Karachi and is Assistant Professor at Habib University, Karachi.

Ishrat Husain

Dr Ishrat Husain is a renowned economist and educationist. He is a former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (1999-2005); Dean & Director of the IBA (May 2008-March 2016); Chairman of the National Commission for Government Reforms (NCGR); and Advisor to the Prime Minister [Imran Khan] on Institutional Reforms and Austerity with the status of Federal Minister (2018-2021). The Banker Magazine of London declared him as the Central Bank Governor of the Year for Asia in 2005. He received the Asian Banker Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. Currently, he is HEC National Distinguished Professor, Professor Emeritus and Chairman Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi. He is the recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (2003) and the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (2016).

Javed Jabbar

Javed Jabbar is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, policy analyst, former senator and federal minister, with a special interest in voluntary work, communications, environment, education, national and international affairs. In 2021, he wrote and produced the 110-minute documentary film ‘Separation of East Pakistan: The Untold Story’ (www.1971Untoldstory.com) which has so far been viewed by over 500,000 viewers across the world. In 2009, as the producer of ‘Ramchand Pakistani’, he won the Lux Award for the Best Cinema Film of 2008, a film that also won international awards. In 2022, he served as Chairman of the Steering Committee to re-record the National Anthem of Pakistan for the first time after its original recording in 1954. The re-recording and its video have been highly praised. He has to his credit 19 books, including anthologies, and one screenplay. Three political memoirs released in 2021-22 on his work with Benazir Bhutto, Farooq Leghari, Meraj Khalid, and Pervez Musharraf (published by Paramount Books in Pakistan) have been widely lauded and became best-sellers on Amazon/Kindle. The third edition of his book, Pakistan—Unique Origins; Unique Destiny? was published in 2017, along with its Urdu and Sindhi language translations. His anthology of selected writings, Pathways won the UBL Literary Award for the Best Non-Fiction English book at the 9th KLF (2018). Three versions of his book What is Pakistaniat? are prescribed in the curriculum of several education and training institutions. In voluntary work, he is the founder and/or chairman of several leading public service organizations. Details at www.javedjabbar.net

Jeeva Haroun

Jeeva Haroun is a barrister at law from Gray’s in United Kingdom and has been active as an internal Legal Counsel for various banks, K- Electric Ltd and more recently NICVD (National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases) Karachi, where he is the Legal Manager and Head of Department. He was born in Malaysia and met his wife, Shireen Z. Haroun while studying for the Bar in London. They married in the late 1980s and reside in Karachi. They have a son and daughter. Poetry for Jeeva has been a discovery of meaning, symbol, myth and reality-juxtaposing a common thread or pattern in chaotic and seemingly unrelated events around us.

Jehan Ara

Jehan Ara is the Founder & CEO of Katalyst Labs which is a Startup Accelerator Innovation Hub and Women Leadership Fellows program. After a 20-year stint as President of P@SHA and 6.5 years as Founder & CEO of The Nest I/O, this is the culmination of a dream for Jehan Ara. She is also an Independent Director on the Board of the Central Depository Council, the Punjab IT Board, IDEAS, and the Boards of several Universities. Jehan is on the Steering Committee of the Women for Boards and is also on the Gender Advisory Council of the World Bank and a Member of the Prime Minister’s Taskforce on IT & the Digital Economy and is a Member of the Tik Tok APAC Safety Advisory Council. The President of Pakistan has recently nominated her for the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz for her services to the IT and startup sector.

Kaiser Bengali

Kaiser Bengali is an economist with over 40 years’ experience in teaching, research, and policy advice. He was Managing Director of the Social Policy & Development Centre, Karachi and a consultant for Economic Affairs and head of the Chief Minister’s Policy Reform Unit, Government of Balochistan. Earlier, he was an advisor to the Chief Minister of Sindh for Planning & Development. He was also the first head of the Benazir Income Support Programme. From being Sindh’s representative on the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC), he has now been nominated on the 10th NFC to represent Balochistan. He is the author/editor of several books and regularly contributes to print and electronic media.

Khaled Anam

Khaled Anam is a singer, actor, song-writer, theatrical producer, and performer. He also hosts and produces a radio show based on Urdu literature and old songs on FM107. With a Master’s from Karachi University, Anam has done various theatrical training courses with Grips Theatre in Berlin, Germany. As part of a core team responsible for translating and adapting over 100 episodes of Open Sesame of Children’s Television Workshop into Urdu—he was solely responsible for translating and re-recording the songs of all episodes. A founding member of Grips Theatre, Pakistan, he has performed in both children’s and regular theatre all over Pakistan, India, UAE, and Germany. In recognition of his services to children’s theatre and education, Anam has been conferred the Goethe-Institut Award of Merit. Author of Bachon kay Geet (OUP, 2014), he is also an ambassador for the Children’s Literature Festival. He has been awarded the President’s Pride of Performance by the Government of Pakistan.

Khalid Ahmed

Khalid Ahmed is a veteran all-rounder who has made a name for himself in television, film and theatre as a director, producer, and actor. An engineer by qualification, he has studied theatre at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After moving to Pakistan from India during the 1970s, he largely devoted his time to theatre, while also appearing on television. In 2020, Khalid Ahmed won the Best Actor Award for ‘Intezar’ at the Harlem International Film Festival in New York. He currently teaches theatre at the National Academy of Performing Arts.

Khalid Mahmood

Khalid Mahmood is a 35-year veteran of the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry and has been CEO of Getz Pharma (Pvt.) Limited (the largest pharmaceutical company in Pakistan), since its inception in 1995. Khalid currently serves on the board of the Zindagi Trust and the board of the Eqbal Ahmed Center for Public Education. He served as the President of the board of The World Wide Fund for Nature – Pakistan (WWF-P) during 2013- 2015 and was on its board member for six years. Khalid was awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence) for his contribution to improving the health and well-being of Pakistan. He is a supporter of the preservation and development of music, theatre arts, and culture, and supports programs and initiatives in the areas of education, health, and sports for underprivileged communities.

Kishwar Naheed

One of the best-known feminist poets of Pakistan, her first collection of poems, Lab-i-Goya (1968), won the prestigious Adamjee Prize for Literature. Founder of Hawwa (Eve), an organization striving to empower women financially, Kishwar Naheed has also served as the Director General of Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA). Her poems have been translated into many languages including English, French, and Italian. She has authored over 28 books and Oxford University Press has not only published her works in Urdu (Intikhab-e-Kalam: Kishwar Naheed and Pakistan ki Tehzeeb-o-Saqafat), but also English translations of her works (The Distance of a Shout [poetry]; A Bad Woman’s Story [memoirs]; The Culture and Civilization of Pakistan). A recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 2000 and Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2022.

Krisha Kops

Dr Krisha Kops was born in 1986 into a German Indian family. He is an author, journalist, and philosopher with a proclivity for intercultural and global justice-related topics. He studied philosophy and journalism in London, before receiving his doctorate (Hildesheim University) with a thesis on intercultural philosophy. In addition to lecturing at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and other institutions, he writes on philosophical and literary topics. With his debut novel ‘Das ewige Rauschen’ (The Eternal Rustling), a family epic in-between Germany and India, Kops won several prizes and scholarships. It is a banyan tree that tells this story of four generations, divided by war, borders, and hatred, united through love, fate, and fascination for the other. The novel is being translated into various languages. Krisha Kops lives in Munich and Madanapalle.

Maha Hasan

Maha Hasan graduated as an Environmental Engineer from NUST but, soon discovered her inclinations lie in the impactful world of performing arts. Following her passion, she sought training in Theatre Arts from NAPA and since then has had the honour to act in theatre plays, TV, web series and cine-plays. Some of her recent works include the titular role in Antigone, directed by Khalid Ahmed; Faraar by Mehreen Jabbar; and a cine-play, Maya, for the Embassy of Netherlands, helmed by Kanwal Khoosat.

Maha Hashmi

Maha Hashmi is studying Literature, Economics, Psychology, Mathematics and Global Perspectives in A-Levels at Karachi Grammar School (KGS). At KGS she is President of the Literature Society and President of the Visual Art Society. She is also a Speaker of the House at Elocutus Society. Maha believes that where everything else fails, the power of a carefully selected word remains. She is an aspiring changer of the world and hopes to use her words as a vessel for what they have the potential to bring forth—emotion, power, and catharsis.

Maha Husain

Maha Husain is the Team Lead for the Climate and Environment Initiative (CEI) and a Research Associate at the Research Society of International Law (RSIL), Pakistan. She completed her law degree from the University of Cambridge (Downing College). Maha is currently serving as a Max Thabiso Edkins Climate Ambassador 2023 for Pakistan. As an MTE Climate Ambassador, she connects with youth climate leaders worldwide, learns from World Bank experts and GYCN and C4C knowledge partners, and takes meaningful climate action in her community and globally. Maha is also a recipient of the Storytelling Initiative grant from the Leadership & Learning for Sustainability Lab at McGill University (supported by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada), where she is receiving mentorship to produce a podcast that centres the voices and work of those on the frontlines of socio-environmental crises.

Maha has obtained numerous climate change certifications through participation in courses, including the Climate Change Law Short Course offered by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL), the Climate Change and Water Short Course for South and South East Asia offered by Griffith University and funded by the Australian Water Partnership, the Climate Law and Governance Specialisation Course offered by the Climate Law and Governance Initiative (CLGI), and the School of Climate Change (SoCC) Michaelmas 2022 programme organised by the Oxford Climate Society (OCS).

Maha’s research interests include climate change and environmental law, public international law and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL).

Maheen Rahman

Maheen Rahman was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of InfraZamin Pakistan in 2020 and has played a crucial part in setting up IZP’s base operations and its initial structure. Maheen has over twenty years of experience in investment banking, research, and asset management. She has been featured on Fortune’s ‘40 Under 40’s Women to Watch’ list, in 2015, as the youngest head of Alfalah GHP Investment Management and the only female CEO in an industry where her rivals were all men. In addition to her extensive work experience and professional achievements, Maheen holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Economics from the LUMS and MSc in Finance and Economics from Warwick Business School in the UK.

Mahim Maher

Mahim Maher is a journalist who has been the city editor for Karachi at Daily Times and The Express Tribune. She writes on Karachi’s urban expansion, water, city government, roads, and transport. Mapping has been an important part of this storytelling. She created the Karachi crime map with designer Jacek Utko for The Express Tribune.

Makhdoom Ali Khan

Makhdoom Ali Khan is a practising Senior Advocate Supreme Court. Makhdoom Ali Khan is a former Attorney General of Pakistan, former chairman Pakistan Bar Council, former member of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, former board member of the Federal Judicial Academy of Pakistan and a former board member of the Sindh Judicial Academy. He is a serving Member on the Governing Board of the British Pakistan Law Council, an Officer of the Board of the Forum for International Conciliation and Arbitration (FICACIC), a member of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre, a member of the Advisory Board of the Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), a former member of the court of the London Court of International Arbitration and a member of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute’s (ICSID) Chairman’s Panel of Arbitrators. He has consistently been ranked amongst the top three litigators in Pakistan over the last three decades both by reputation and in international rankings in legal publications and amongst the top two litigators in the Sindh High Court in Karachi. Since his return to private practice in 2007 he is globally regarded as the preeminent commercial, taxation and constitutional litigator, arbitrator, and arbitration lawyer in Pakistan.

Maniza Naqvi

Maniza Naqvi is a novelist and short story writer. Her five novels are: Mass Transit, On Air, Stay with Me, and A Matter of Detail. Her latest novel The Inn was published in 2021. Sarajevo Saturdays is a collection of her short stories and poems. Her short story ‘An Impossible Shade of Home Brew’ is included in the anthology And Then the World Changed. She writes fiction and essays as a Monday columnist for 3Quarksdaily.com and has contributed essays for the monthly magazine Herald, including an essay on Pakistan’s English fiction. Her book A Guest in the House is a memoir which chronicle’s her time at the Pioneer Book House, Karachi and provides a lens into the history of the city. Maniza Naqvi is the Founder and CEO of The Little Book Company (www.littlebookcompany.net), a start-up publisher and e-book digital platform for publishers, authors, and booksellers. 

Maqbool Baqer

Justice Maqbool Baqer retired as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2022. He is a former Judge of the High Court of Sindh and Chief Justice of the Province of Sindh. His judgements and dissents both reflect his progressive ideals. He was responsible for the largest distribution of compensation in Pakistan’s legal history to the victims of Karachi’s Baldia factory fire. He has also staunchly supported provincial autonomy per the constitution. His legal career has been lauded for ‘examples of the greatest courage shown by a jurist in Pakistan in the face of unprecedented opposition’, ‘commitment to the protection of fundamental rights’ and for his pro-people approach. Justice Baqer was also very vocal in questioning issues like the conduct of the court and the lack of objective criteria for judicial appointments. His pursuit of such positions meant that he often made enemies not only with those holding executive power but also within the bench. This did not deter Justice Baqer, even when it entailed risk to his very life. In 2013, he survived a vicious bomb attack which claimed the lives of twelve people and returned to work after months of rehabilitative surgery.

Matthieu Paley

Born in France, Matthieu Paley has travelled all over the world for National Geographic magazine. Focusing his efforts on regions that are misrepresented, he is especially committed to issues relating to diminishing cultures and the environment. The recipient of numerous awards, Matthieu has published several books of his work and his fine art images have been exhibited in galleries worldwide as well as in Museums. He regularly gets hired for commercial campaigns, photo workshops or speaking engagements. Over the course of his career, Matthieu has learned 6 languages, feeding his passion to connect with the people he meets and helping him instil a sense of intimacy into his images.

Mazhar Abbas

Former deputy director of ARY News Television and the secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Mazhar Abbas is a well- known champion of press freedom in Pakistan and has worked as a journalist for twenty-seven years.

Mehdi Raza Subzwari

Mehdi Raza Subzwari is the present Sajada Nashin by descent, of the seven centuries old prestigious shrine of Hazrat Qalandar Lal Shahbaz (RA), in the historic town of Sehwan Sharif situated on the right bank of the mighty River Indus in central Sindh, Pakistan. He is a medical doctor by profession and has a Master’s in Public Administration as well. He propagates inter-faith and inter-sectoral harmony in his speeches. He is also involved in philanthropic activities like poverty alleviation and gender discrimination and improving the quality of village life.

Mehtab S. Karim

Professor Mehtab S. Karim has over four decades of experience working at universities in Pakistan, the USA and UK. At present, he is a distinguished Senior Fellow in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University in the USA, where earlier he was a Research Professor. He earned BA Honours from the University of Karachi, MS in Social Science from the University of Chicago, and PhD in Sociology from Cornell University.  He has held academic positions at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Princeton University and Johns Hopkins University in the USA and the London School of Economics in the UK. On behalf of the Higher Education Commission, he was a visiting professor at Quaid-i-Azam University and the University of Karachi and was the founding Vice Chancellor of Malir University of Science and Technology in Karachi. He has co-authored three books and has been invited as a speaker at over 40 universities in North America, Europe, the Middle East, South and South East Asia and Australia.

Mian Raza Rabbani

Senator Mian Raza Rabbani is a Pakistani political leader, constitutional lawyer, and former Chairman of the Senate (2015-2018). As a legislator, he was responsible for the drafting of the famous 18th Amendment, which restored the original spirit of the Constitution and established a firm foundation for Federalism. He has been elected a Senator from Sindh six times since 1993. A long-standing member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, he was a close aide to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and was appointed the Party’s Deputy Secretary General in 1997. He has also served as Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, Minister of State for Law and Justice, and Leader of the House and Opposition in the Senate. Senator Rabbani was awarded the highest civil award, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, for his parliamentary services. In addition, he was awarded the Bacha Khan Award for the Defence of Provincial Rights. The Human Rights Society of Pakistan selected him for the 2006 award for his invaluable services to human rights. He was Vice-Chairman of the National Institute of Public Policy and a member of the Forum of Federations, Toronto. He has represented Pakistan as a delegate and speaker at the UN General Assembly, Inter-Parliamentary Union, and Commonwealth Parliamentary Union. He is the author of, A Biography of Federalism in Pakistan, Invisible People (fiction), and Smile Snatchers (fiction). Both his books Invisible People and Smile Snatchers are recipients of the Patras Bokhari Award for English prose, 2017 and 2020, respectively.

Michael Kugelman

Michael Kugelman is director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute. He was previously Asia Program deputy director and senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center. He is also a weekly columnist for Foreign Policy and writes its South Asia Brief newsletter. Kugelman is a leading specialist on Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan and their relations with the United States. The editor/co-editor of 11 books, he has also written for The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and other publications, covering topics ranging from US policy in Afghanistan and the geopolitics of South Asia to water, energy, and food security in the region.

Michel Boivin

Michel Boivin is a historian and anthropologist, with a specialization in Muslim societies in South Asia. A former director of the Centre for South Asian Studies (CNRS-EHESS), he is now affiliated with the Centre for the Study of South Asia and the Himalayas (CESAH), he teaches Historical Anthropology of the Muslim Societies in South Asia at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences (EHESS), where he also supervises PhD students. He is co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Sindhi Studies (Brill Publishers) and Critical Pakistan Studies (University of Cambridge Press). In November 2022, he has organized with Rémy Delage (CNRS-CESAH) and Prof. Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director of IBA, the first Social Sciences Winter School in Karachi. He has authored or (co-)edited eighteen books, the two last ones being The Sufi Paradigm and the makings of a Vernacular Knowledge in Colonial Sindh (1851-1923) (New York, Palgrave, 2020), and The Hindu Sufis of South Asia. Partition, Shrine Culture and the Sindhis of India (London & New York, I.B. Tauris, 2019). He has two forthcoming books. The first one is the English translation of a book already published in French, The Aga Khan and the Khojas: Religious Authority and Social Formation in an Ismaili Shia community from South Asia, to be published by Brill. The second is a book he co-edited with Manoël Pénicaud (CNRS-IDEMEC) with the title Inter-religious Practices and Saint Veneration in the Muslim World: Khidr/Khizr from the Middle East to South Asia, to be published by Routledge.

Miftah Ismail

Miftah Ismail served as the Federal Minister of Finance from April 2022 to September 2022. He had previously served in the same office, from April 2018 to May 2018 in Khaqan Abbasi’s cabinet. He has also served as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, and as Chairman, Board of Investment, the Privatisation Commission and the Sui Southern Gas Company. A professional economist, Dr Ismail worked briefly for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Later, he became CEO & Director of Ismail Industries Ltd. He has also served as President of Karachi American School and as Visiting Faculty at the Institute of Business Administration. Dr Miftah Ismail holds a bachelor’s degree from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, a master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Public Finance and Political Economy from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

Minaa Shahzad

Minaa Shahzad is currently doing A-Levels at Cedar College in Karachi. Aged 18, she writes poems and short stories that focus on love of all kinds, its absence, and its presence in our lives in different ways, and the inherent human need to be loved. She believes that she writes because she is bad at remembering and just wants to capture memories and feelings into words. She hopes to write and publish novels in the future, as well as poem collections. Currently, she posts her works on @https.starsundrowned on Instagram.

Minhas Tejani

Minhas Tejani is the Principal of Habib Public School. He holds an M.Ed.  from the Notre Dame Institute of Education accredited by the Australian Catholic University and the University of Karachi and is a Certified Marshall Goldsmith stakeholder-centred Executive and Team coach.

Moinuddin Aqeel

Dr Moinuddin Aqeel is among the most eminent scholars and writers of literature, history, and culture of the Muslims of South Asia and is considered nationally and internationally as an invaluable academic asset. A prolific scholar and academic he has authored, edited, and compiled over 90 books and 600 articles, both scholarly and academic in English and Urdu languages, and a host of learned papers and research articles in internationally reputed journals, and contributed chapters and papers in encyclopedias and scholarly compendiums. A book lover, his personal library contains 60,000 books, manuscripts, documents and microfilms on South Asian history and the culture of Muslims. From this, some 28,000 books have been donated to the Asia Africa Area Studies Centre at Kyoto University which is preserved there as the Aqeel Collection and can be consulted through: http://www.asafas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kias/aqeel_db/en/index.html. He holds a D.Litt. and PhD and has been honoured nationally and internationally with distinguished recognitions. He is the recipient of the Sitara-e Imtiaz and was conferred Japan’s highest civilian honour ‘Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon’ by the Emperor of Japan, in April 2013.

Moni Mohsin

Moni Mohsin is an author and journalist. She was born and raised in Pakistan but lives now between London and Lahore. She began her journalistic career at The Friday Times, Pakistan’s first weekly newspaper, where she started her long-running, satirical column ‘The Diary of a Social Butterfly’. Now working as a freelancer, she writes on culture, politics, lifestyle, class and society. Her journalism has appeared in The Guardian, The Times of India, 1843, Vogue, The Nation and Prospect. Moni Mohsin has written five works of fiction — three novels, The End of Innocence, The Impeccable Integrity of Ruby R and Tender Hooks aka Duty Free and two books of collected Butterfly columns, The Diary of a Social Butterfly and The Return of the Butterfly. She also hosts a comic podcast called Browned Off with editor and critic Faiza Khan in which they lift the lid on diversity — or the lack thereof! — in contemporary Western culture

Mubeen Mirza

Mubeen Mirza is a noted Pakistani fiction writer, poet, and journalist. He is a widely acknowledged and well-received short story writer of the modern era of Urdu fiction. For many years he has written a weekly article in the Sunday magazine of daily Express on literary, socio-political, and international issues. At present, he writes for daily Jang and some literary and social sites on a variety of subjects. He is the editor of the renowned literary magazine Mukalama and is the managing director of a well-reputed publishing house Academy Bazyaft. He is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Pakistan Academy of Letters. Furthermore, he is the author of Khof ke Aasman Talay; Saadat Hasan Manto: Shakhsiyat o Fun; Tabani; Zameenen aur Zamane; Arzang; Ahwal o Aasar, Urdu ke Behtareen Shakhsi Khakay; Pakistani Adab; Adabiyat; and Manto: Muntakhab Mazameen.

Muhammad Azfar Ahsan

Muhammad Azfar Ahsan is a former Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of Investment, Government of Pakistan. He is the Founder of Corporate Pakistan Group (CPG). He is the Founder & CEO of Nutshell Group (Nutshell Communications, Nutshell Consulting & Nutshell Conferences. He has hosted more than 500 national and international conferences, seminars, training workshops, webinars, and group discussions in Pakistan; Singapore; Malaysia; Sri Lanka; Dubai; and Bahrain. He is the thought leader behind Pakistan’s biggest corporate gathering leaders in Islamabad Summit. He is a board member of the Institute of Financial Markets of Pakistan, RYTS Global, and an advisory board member of Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital Karachi. Azfar is the President of the Marketing Association of Pakistan. Azfar is working on investment projects with the governments of Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.

Mujahid Barelvi

Mujahid Barelvi is a leading journalist, analyst, and commentator, he has been appearing on television without a break, for the last two decades. He has written articles for political journals and newspapers and has authored books on Afghanistan and Balochistan, as well as a book in memory of Habib Jalib. An avid globetrotter, he has also penned a travelogue “Khuwahish-e-Safar main Rahay” about his travelling experience with all the heads of state and participation in numerous conferences. Currently, he is hosting the program ‘Live with Mujahid’ on GTV News.

Muneeza Shamsie

Muneeza Shamsie is the author of a literary history “Hybrid Tapestries: The Development of Pakistani Literature in English” (2017). She is an Area Editor of the online Literary Encyclopedia. She received the Gold IPPY and the 2008 Bronze Foreword prizes in the US for the American edition of her anthology “And the World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women” (2008). She is Bibliographic Representative (Pakistan) for ‘The Journal of Commonwealth Literature’ and is on the international advisory board of ‘The Journal of Postcolonial Writing’ and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. She has served as a jury member for the latter and for several literary awards in Pakistan too. She was the regional chair Eurasia of the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009 and 2010. She lives in Karachi and contributes to ‘Dawn’ and ‘Newsweek Pakistan’.

Nadeem Farooq Paracha

Nadeem Farooq Paracha is a prominent Pakistani author and social commentator. He has authored seven best-selling books on the social and political history of Pakistan. His latest book Faith, State and the Soul was published in 2022. His books, End of the Past (2016) and Points of Entry (2018), have been two of the biggest selling non-fiction books in Pakistan in the last five years. In 2018, Nadeem was accepted as a Research Scholar at the International Forum for Democratic Studies in Washington DC. He has been a regular columnist for Dawn, Pakistan’s largest English language newspaper. He is also associated with Adcom Leo Burnett as Head of Ideas.

Nadeem Hussain

Nadeem Hussain is one of Asia’s leading social impact entrepreneurs, technology investors, and financial inclusion pioneers. He is the founder of Telenor Microfinance Bank (formerly Tameer Microfinance Bank), lauded by the World Bank as one of the most socially impactful banks in its field. Its EasyPaisa offering is the world’s second-largest branchless banking payments solutions. Nadeem’s subsequent venture Planet N Group is an emerging markets, social impact, and technology investment firm with portfolio companies in Pakistan, Egypt, and the UAE. He previously spent 27 years at Citigroup in eight countries in regional management within commercial, consumer, retail and investment banking. Nadeem is a global authority on Financial Inclusion and Development through Digitisation and is globally recognized for his dedication and service to financial inclusion. He is a Board Member of State Bank of Pakistan; Steering Committee, National Financial Inclusion Program, Government of Pakistan and on the advisory board of Institute of Business Administration; NUST; and Financial Inclusion partner of CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor).

Nadir Cheema

Nadir Cheema teaches Economics at SOAS, University of London. He is a book reviews editor at Bloomsbury Pakistan, which focuses on academic books published in the field of Pakistan studies. His is published in the area of Health Economics and frequently contributes articles on Pakistan’s economy. More recently, he has developed a keen interest in sovereign debt and looking at Pakistan’s current IMF programme. He has co-edited the book, ‘Pakistan Left Review; Then and Now’ (2022), published by the Oxford University Press. Other than his profession, he also has a keen interest in the historical archives of British India, particularly the Indian Civil Service (ICS), which he carried on since his student days at Oxford and Cambridge universities. Given his family’s agriculturist background in central Punjab and lower Sindh, he has useful insights into the agriculture sector.

Nadya Chishty-Mujahid

Dr Nadya Chishty- Mujahid is Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, School of Economics and Social Sciences, Institute of Business Administration Karachi. She is the author of a monograph titled, ‘Fraternal Male Twinship in History, Society, Fiction and Entertainment’. Previously, she wrote a book titled ‘A Political Chess King’, which ranked eighty-seventh on Edwin Mellen’s top 100, prizewinning book list. In addition, she has authored eight other books, several articles and over 150 book reviews.

Naila Mahmood

Naila Mahmood is a Karachi-based visual artist, writer, documentary photographer and filmmaker. Her lens-based works investigate the complexities of urban spaces and human rights issues. Her artwork has been exhibited in solo and group shows nationally and internationally. She has been a speaker at Brown University/ Rhode Island School of Design, University of California, Berkeley, University of North Carolina, Cornell University and Technischen Universität Berlin. She is an educator and has been associated with the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. She has also taught at the University of Karachi and Habib University, Karachi and has been the Director of the Vasl Artists’ Association.

Nasir Abbas Nayyar 

A scholar, author, and short story writer, Nasir Abbas Nayyar is the former Director General of the Urdu Science Board, Lahore, and is currently a professor of Urdu at the University of the Punjab, Lahore. He is the honorary editor of the LUMS research journal Bunyaad. His books Mabad Nauabadiyat: Urdu kay Tanzur Main (OUP, 2013) and Jadeediat aur Nauabadiyat (OUP, 2021) ushered postcolonial studies into Urdu Literature. His book Urdu Adab ki Tashkeel e Jadid (OUP, 2016) won the best Urdu Book Prize, KLF 2017, and the Baba-e-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq Award 2016 for Urdu prose from the Pakistan Academy of Letters. His book, Us Ko Ik Shakhs Samjhna to Munasib hi Nahi (OUP, 2017), was awarded the UBL Literary Prize 2019 (non-fiction) for the best Urdu book. His book Nazm Kaisay Parhain is the first of its kind in Urdu. Aik Zamana Khatam Howa Hae is his fourth collection of short stories. Nay Naqqad Kay Naam Khatoot is his latest book. He regularly writes on literary issues in The News and Dawn.

Nasira Zuberi 

Nasira Zuberi is a senior journalist and media person with twenty-five years’ experience of print as well as electronic journalism. She has worked for Business Recorder, Aaj News, Geo News, and News One. She is the only female journalist who has the successful launch of two news channels (Aaj News and NewsOne) to her credit. A former Controller, News of Aaj TV; Director, News of NewsOne; and Editor, Business Desk, Geo News. She is the author of three poetic collections: Shagoon, Kaanch ka Charaagh, and Teesra Qadam. Working on the fourth book these days. During her professional career she got the opportunity to visit different countries and attend prominent conferences. 

Naureen Hyat

Naureen Hyat is the Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Tez Financial Services, a FinTech startup from Planet N Group offering digital financial products and services to low-end consumers. She won the first Visa Everywhere Initiative Women’s Global Edition in 2019. She is not only an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Executive Education program but also co-founded CheckIn Solutions, a company that offers digital services to Microfinance providers. She is a Social Entrepreneur with an aim to bring positive effective change, particularly at the base of the pyramid, via innovative and sustainable solutions.

Neda Mulji

Neda Mulji is Senior Manager, Professional Development, Oxford University Press, Pakistan. Before joining OUP, Neda taught communication skills and English courses as a university lecturer in Dubai. She has an MA in Postcolonial Studies literature and culture from Goldsmiths, University of London, a Cambridge Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGC-HE) from Middlesex University. Neda writes regularly for Dawn on education and has authored a book on parenting titled, The Love Connection. She has recently written a children’s story titled, ‘Little Jimmy’, published by OUP.

Niels Hegewisch

Niels Hegewisch studied History, Political Science and Philosophy at the Universities of Bonn, Greifswald and Vilnius. He has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Greifswald where he also worked as a Research Assistant from 2007 until 2015. In 2015 he joined FES as a Program Manager in the Regional Office for Northern Germany in Hamburg. From 2017 to 2021 he was the FES Resident Director in Mongolia. Since 2022 he is the Country Director of FES Pakistan.

Noori Band

Noori is a Pakistani rock band from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, formed in 1996. The group was formed by songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist, Ali Noor, along with his younger brother Ali Hamza, who were soon joined by bassist Muhammad Ali Jafri and drummer Salman Albert. Since the inception of the band, there have been many changes in the line-up; the only consistent members being brothers, Ali Noor and Ali Hamza. The band has produced songs such as “Suno Ke Mein Hoon Jawaan” and the epic “Manwa Re”.

Noorul Huda Shah

Noorul Huda Shah is a well-known and respected short story writer, playwright, poet, columnist, and broadcaster. Presently, she is Joint Secretary of the Pakistan Arts Council Karachi. She writes both in Urdu and her native language Sindhi. A familiar name in the Pakistani drama industry, she is famous for very popular serials including Jungle, Marvi, Bebak, Meri Adhuri Mohabbat, Ajaeb Khana, Adhoora Milan, and Ishq Gumshuda. She now works as a freelance consultant with a few broadcasting houses. Ms Shah is working on an Urdu translation of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s poetry. She also has four collections of short stories and one collection of poetry in Sindhi. Nowadays she is working on an Urdu novel.

Omar Shahid Hamid   

As part of the Karachi Police’s Counter Terrorism department, Omar Shahid Hamid has survived being ambushed by gangsters, implicated by colleagues in a false case, and, as CID chief, barely escaped the bombing of his office by the Pakistani Taliban. In 2011, following an attack on his office by the Pakistani Taliban, he took a five-year sabbatical to write books and worked as a Political Risk Consultant. In 2016, Omar returned to active duty as a Counter Terrorism Officer. He has been widely quoted and regularly featured in several publications including ‘The New York Times’, ‘USA Today’, ‘The Wall Street Journal’, ‘The Times’, ‘Le Monde’, Reuters, CNN, and BBC. His first novel, “The Prisoner” (2013), was longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015 and is now being adapted for a feature film. His second novel “The Spinner’s Tale” (2015) won the 2016 Karachi Literature Festival Prize. He received the award again for his third novel “The Party Worker” (2017) at the Karachi Literature Festival in 2018 which is now being adapted for a TV series. His fourth book, “The Fix”, explores the world of cricket match fixing. His fifth book “Betrayal” is a spy thriller based in a regional cold war in South Asia.

Palvasha Shahab

Palvasha Shahab, is a lawyer, researcher, and lecturer. She teaches at the Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, IBA, Karachi, and is enrolled as an Advocate of the High Courts of Pakistan.

Peerzada Salman

A prominent journalist and literary personality, Peerzada Salman is a feature writer and a staff member with Dawn. He writes on a variety of subjects related to art, culture, and literature. He dabbles in short fiction and is a bilingual (Urdu and English) poet. In December 2017, his first collection of poems in English, Bemused, was published, followed in 2018 by his first collection of Urdu poems, Waqt. In 2021, Salman also published his debut collection of short stories, Ephemera.

Peter Coughlin

Peter Coughlin is an industrial and agro-industrial economist with 40 years of professional experience in eastern and southern Africa. He holds a PhD from the University of New Mexico (1975) and has conducted and supervised numerous research projects and written five books about labour relations, industrialization strategy, management, and tactics for negotiations with international companies. Peter has authored five other books on economic topics and, as a side-line, edits academic reports and books as well as other works. As an editor, Peter encouraged his dear and long-time friend, Mushir Anwar, to write and revise A Piece of the Moon and, after Anwar’s death in 2015, continued with Khayyam Mushir, Anwar’s son, to edit Anwar’s completed draft and prepare the glossary, genealogical table, and layout for the novel and cover published by Folio Books and presently being launched at the 2023 book fairs in Karachi and Lahore.

Pir Faraz Ali

Pir Faraz Ali, also known as Piru Saein, is an adventure traveller and a photographer, focused on showing people, cultures and landscapes through his camera with the ultimate goal to promote tourism and a positive image of Pakistan. As a mountain lover, he not only takes stunning photos of them but also climbs them. Faraz also runs a travel company by the name of Alpas Travels for the last five years, contributing passionately to the tourism sector in Pakistan.

Pirzada Qasim

A noted Pakistani scholar, Urdu poet, scientist, and educationist. Pirzada Qasim has served as Vice Chancellor of Federal Urdu University and the University of Karachi. He is currently the Vice Chancellor of Ziauddin University. He has been engaged in higher education in Pakistan for the last fifty-three years and has served in the capacity of vice chancellor for about eighteen years.

Raana Kazmi

Raana Kazmi is a Theatre Arts student at the National Academy of Performing Arts, where she has acted in student-led and commercial productions. She is a senior HR professional with more than a decade in the people development field and, continues to pursue both her passions.

Rabia Akhtar

Dr Rabia Akhtar is the founding Director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research, University of Lahore. She is also the founding Director of the School of Integrated Social Sciences at the University of Lahore, Pakistan. She holds a PhD in Security Studies from Kansas State University. She is a Fulbright alumna (2010-2015). Dr Akhtar received her master’s in International Relations from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad and her master’s in Political Science from Eastern Illinois University, USA. She has written extensively on South Asian nuclear security and deterrence dynamics. She is the author of a book titled ‘The Blind Eye: U.S. Non-proliferation Policy Towards Pakistan from Ford to Clinton’. Dr Akhtar is also the Editor of Pakistan Politico, Pakistan’s first strategic and foreign affairs magazine. She was a member of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs from 2018-2022. Dr Akhtar is a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the South Asia Center, Atlantic Council, Washington DC.

Rabia Chaudry

Rabia Chaudry is an attorney, advocate, podcaster, and author of the New York Times bestseller Adnan’s Story and executive producer of a four-part HBO documentary The Case Against Adnan Syed, which was based on her book. Chaudry is also co-producer and co-host of four podcasts, Undisclosed (360 million downloads), The 45th (four million downloads), The Hidden Djinn, and the new Rabia and Ellyn Solve the Case. She is also a wife, mother, and an incredible cook, details of which can be found in her memoir Fatty Fatty Boom Boom.

Rafi Mustafa

Dr Rafi Mustafa’s pursuit for peace and harmony among people of different faiths and ethnicities comes out in his writing: his common theme is migration, which results in the uprooting of families due to upheaval and chaos, and their endeavour to integrate with alien societies. Although his novels are set in the Partition, his eloquent depiction of the bewilderment and trauma felt by his protagonist is universal. He started his career in academia and, after earning his PhD in chemistry from the University of British Columbia in 1969, he was engaged in teaching and research at various universities in Pakistan, Sudan, UK and Canada. He runs his I.T. company which he set up in Canada 35 years ago.

Rahim Mehr Baloch

Dr Rahim Mehr Baloch is the chairperson of the Department of Balochi, University of Balochistan, Quetta, and has been involved in teaching for the past fifteen years. He is the editor of the HEC-recognized research journal ‘Hinkin’ published by the department. Dr Rahim Mehr is a member of the Syndicate of Jamia Balochistan and is also involved in the Academic Council, the Senate of the Jamia and many other committees. Dr Maher is a teacher as well as a researcher, critic, and writer. More than twenty of his research papers have been published in HEC-recognized research journals across the country covering Balochi language, literature, and culture. He has published ten books on various topics of the Balochi language and literature. Most of these books are included and taught as textbooks in universities across the country and colleges across the province.

Raju Jamil

Karachi-based TV personality Zulqarnain Jamil Aali, popularly known as Raju Jamil, was a
banker by profession and retired as Senior Vice President/Head of Social Media at UBL after
40 years’ service. He debuted on TV for the first time in 1967, appearing in a PTV play. He
has acted in over 210 serials, 55 single plays, and 20 English stage plays. He successfully
anchored the famous and well-known Weekend with Raju Jamil, a late-night TV show. While
with UBL, he worked on deputation as GM Media, Pakistan Cricket Board for Pak Test Series
in Australia in 1999–2000. Raju Jamil, since his teenage, has been an ardent admirer and
supporter of Pakistani Cricket and Cinema. He has not only watched almost every Pakistani
film since 1958 but remembers most of them, since 2005 he has been researching and writing
about famous Pakistani movies, and lamenting why the Pakistani Cinema has lost its
original charm. In view of Pakistani cinema today, he doubts that it can maintain the norms to
match the values and needs of the country with regard to environment, religion, and society.
In October 2015 Raju, as a member of the Governing Body, was elected as President of
Anjuman Taraqqi e Urdu Pakistan. He was nominated by Aftab Ahmed whose tenure ended.

Reema Abbasi

Reema Abbasi resides in Karachi, Pakistan. At present, she is a freelance journalist and commentator on socio-political issues. She has been a journalist with the News International, Herald Magazine and Dawn, and is the author of Historic Temples in Pakistan: A Call to Conscience and Ajmer Sharif: Awakening of Sufism in South Asia, and SIN, translations of Wajida Tabassum’s short stories. Reema received the Gender in Journalism Award in 2003 by UNESCO and the Rajiv Gandhi Award for the Literary Personality of the Year in 2014. Throughout her career, Reema’s writings have focused on marginalized communities, socio-political concerns, heritage, and the values of secularism. Her other passions include travel, arts, and culture.

Romeena Kizilbash Kureishy

Romeena has been teaching Urdu in the US since 2008. She taught at the University of Pennsylvania STARTALK Urdu Program from 2008-2014 and has been with New York University Hindi Urdu Teacher Training Institute as an Urdu Pedagogy specialist since 2015. She has also served as Urdu Program Coordinator and Lead Instructor for Kean University’s Global Project-based Learning STARTALK Urdu Program since 2017. She has taught Beginner and Intermediate Urdu courses as an adjunct at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms Kureishy has extensive experience in curriculum and lesson development and provides teacher training to Urdu teachers in the US. She has also served as an Independent Urdu Specialist for the American Councils for International Education in Washington D.C. since 2012, working on proficiency tests for the Urdu language. She recently developed an online proficiency test for NYU. She is a consultant to US-based Urdu schools where she oversees curriculum development and teacher training. She is passionate about bringing Urdu teachers to an international standard and wants them to be the leaders in 21st-century language pedagogy in Pakistan and beyond. She has been conducting teacher training workshops in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Swat. Since December 2021 she has trained over 650 Urdu teachers from 140 schools. She organized a collaboration between NYU and AKU-IED which resulted in a 40-hour Urdu Pedagogy Training program in July 2022—the first of its kind in Pakistan. She was recently appointed as an honorary research associate/visiting faculty at AKU-IED. She has also collaborated with Karachi University to hold its first-ever Urdu Pedagogy Training certificate program in February 2023. Romeena holds a BA in Psychology and an MA in Urdu and is pursuing an MPhil in Urdu from Karachi University.

Rosita Armytage

Dr Rosita Armytage is an anthropologist, policy advisor, and governance specialist working in Asia over the past two decades. She has lived and worked in Pakistan for several years and is currently advising the Australian Government in Cambodia. She holds a PhD in political anthropology from the Australian National University (ANU), and a degree in Arab and Islamic Studies. Her book Big Capital in an Unequal World: The Micropolitics of Wealth in Pakistan has been recently published by Liberty Books in Pakistan.

Rumana Husain

Rumana Husain is a Karachi-based writer, artist, and educator. She is the author of two acclaimed coffee-table books: ‘Karachiwala—a Subcontinent within a City’ about Karachi’s diverse communities, and ‘Street Smart—Professionals on the Street’. Moreover, she has authored/illustrated over 65 children’s books for several publishers, including the Oxford University Press, and has won awards for four of her books in Pakistan, Nepal, and India. She is also a regular contributor to national newspapers and magazines. Rumana is an honorary advisor on the board of the Pakistan Learning Festival, Founder and honorary Executive Committee member of the Society for I Am Karachi, and of the International Public Art Festival (IPAF), and is the honorary General Secretary of the Karachi Conference Foundation.

S. Akbar Zaidi

Professor Dr S. Akbar Zaidi is a political economist who also teaches and does research on colonial South Asian History. He has taught at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, and at Columbia University from 2010 to 2020 and held a joint position at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and at the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS). He has written scores of academic articles and a number of books. His recent books include Issues in Pakistan’s Economy: A Political Economy Perspective (Oxford University Press 2015), and a co-edited volume entitled New Perspectives on Pakistan’s Political Economy: State, Class and Social Change (Cambridge University Press 2019). In May 2021, his latest book entitled Making a Muslim: Reading Publics and Contesting Identities in Nineteenth-Century North India, was published by Cambridge University Press. Since 2020 he has been the Executive Director/Vice Chancellor of the IBA Karachi.

Saani Syed

Syed Akbar Shah, born in Karachi in the last decade of the 20th century, grew up in Balochistan. He is well known by his pen name Saani Syed. A pedagogue by profession, he also translates. However, poetry is his prime identity. He has earned himself a name in a short span of time and is considered as one of the important voices to have emerged on the literary scene. Ghazal is Saani Syed’s preferred genre. He also practices different literary genres popular in the eastern poetic tradition. His works regularly get published in various journals in Pakistan. Urdu, Persian, and Balochi linguistics and literature are Saani Syed’s main areas of interest. His first collection of ghazals is due to be published soon.

Saba Karim Khan

Saba Karim Khan is an author, award-winning documentary filmmaker and educator, who read Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford and works at NYU Abu Dhabi. Khan’s debut novel, Skyfall, was published by Bloomsbury and she is a contributor to the recently launched anthology, Ways of Being: Creative Non-fiction by Pakistani Women. She is a columnist for Khaleej Times, and her writing, interviews and talks have appeared in The Guardian, BBC, The Independent, the Emirates Literature Festival, Lahore Literary Festival, NYUAD Institute, Gulf News, The National, Wasafiri, Huff Post, Verso, LUMS, Think Progress, DAWN, The Friday Times and Express Tribune. Khan’s doc-film, Concrete Dreams: Some Roads Lead Home, produced by the Doha Film Institute (DFI), secured official selections, and won awards at film festivals in NYC, Paris, Berlin, Toronto, USA, Sweden, and India. Before joining the Academy, Saba worked as Country Marketing and Public Affairs Head at Citigroup. Born in Karachi, she now lives in Abu Dhabi with her husband and two daughters. Saba Karim Khan can be contacted at https://sabakarimkhan.com/.

Sabyn Javeri

Sabyn Javeri is the Program Head of Undergraduate Writing at New York University, Abu Dhabi. She is the author of Hijabistan (Harper Collins, 2019) and the novel Nobody Killed Her (Harper Collins: 2017) and has edited two multilingual anthologies of student writing titled, The Arzu Anthology of Student Voices (Vols. I & II; HUP, 2019, 2018). Her writing has been widely anthologized and published in the South Asian Review, London Magazine, Wasafiri, Oxonian Review, Trespass, and World Literature, among other publications, and she writes a monthly column for 3Quarks Daily on gender and identity. She has a master’s from the University of Oxford and a doctorate from the University of Leicester. Her research interests include transnational feminism, South Asian literature, and creative writing.

Safinah Danish Elahi

Safinah Danish Elahi is a lawyer, novelist, and poet, and the founder of the award-winning independent press, Reverie Publishers. She has authored two books, a collection of poetry titled, ‘The Unbridled Romance of Love and Pain’ and the novel, ‘Eye on the Prize’, which has been converted into a drama series for television. Her upcoming novel, ‘The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon’, will be published in July 2023 by the Neem Tree Press, UK. She was the official nominee from Pakistan for the prestigious International Writers’ Fall Residency 2022 at the University of Iowa, USA, where she participated as a fellow of the program. 

Sahar Imdad Hussaini

Dr Sahar Imdad Hussaini is an award-winning poet, writer, research scholar, critic, journalist, translator, and educationist. She is the wife of a renowned Urdu and Sindhi poet, Imdad Hussaini. She did her PhD at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro where she also taught as a professor for more than 35 years (1976–2012). She worked as Associate Professor at the School of Art, Humanities and Social Science, Habib University, Karachi for seven years from 2015. She has worked at PTV and Radio Pakistan, Hyderabad and has ten books to her credit. Dr Sahar has received many awards and crests from local literary, social, and educational organizations. In recognition of her services towards literature, the Government of Pakistan bestowed upon her Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 2009.

Saife Hasan

Saife Hasan began his career on stage in 1996 with the theatre group Tehrik-e-Niswan in Karachi. He moved onto television as an actor and director, working independently for various channels and then more prominently for Hum TV. He has been awarded for his direction in well-known drama series, including Bari Apa, Sang-e-Marmar, and Ehd-e-Wafa. Saife Hasan is the co-founder of Zambeel Dramatic Readings, an initiative that dramatizes texts from Urdu literature for a live audience.

Salma Ahmed Alam

Salma Ahmed Alam is a teacher by her professional qualification and is presently the CEO of Durbeen, a non-profit organization that is striving to raise the bar of public schools in Pakistan. Salma started her education career at the S.M.B. Fatima Jinnah government school in Karachi, where she volunteered with Zindagi Trust for 4 years. After graduating from Harvard University in 2013, Salma spent two years consulting with the World Bank. In 2016, after returning from Singapore with a primary teaching qualification, Salma was appointed as the CEO of Durbeen, to lead a public-private partnership in the Government Elementary College of Teacher Education, Hussainabad in Karachi. She currently retains this position and also teaches mathematics B.Ed. courses at the College.

Salman Sarwat

Dr Salman Sarwat is a promising poet in the younger generation of Urdu poets, who attracted attention with his own style in Urdu free verse poetry through the uniqueness of subjects and treatment. His poetry reflects urban sensitivities, dilemmas of contemporary episteme, and existential crises. Writing critiques, literary essays, and short stories, the first collection of his poetry ‘Living with Metaphors’ was published in 2020. He has read his work at various literary festivals, and his poetry and other writings have also been published in renowned literary and scholarly journals. Salman Sarwat is from Karachi; starting his career in the corporate sector, he served at an oil refinery and bank. He is currently associated with a public sector university, where he teaches financial management, philosophy, and research.

Salman Tarek Kureshi

Salman Tarek Kureshi is an English language poet, writer, and columnist. His poems have appeared in anthologies such as Pieces of Eight; Legacy of the Indus; The Blue Wind; Dragonfly in the Sun; An Anthology; Journal of Postcolonial Writing; and a solo volume Landscapes of the Mind. Some of his poems and short stories have been published in the annual ‘Pakistan Journal of Literature’. As a columnist, he writes on socio-political topics in the weekly, The Friday Times and the dailies Dawn and Daily Times.

Samiullah Siddiqui

Samiullah Siddiqui is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan. Currently, he is serving as Director of Finance at Oxford University Press Pakistan. He remained Executive Director and CFO of Linde Pakistan Limited and prior to that, he served with Siemens Pakistan in various positions including CFO of Energy Business responsible for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Dubai, Chief Internal Auditor, Commercial Head of Telecom and SAP businesses. He has studied and trained with Harvard Business School, Said Business School, LUMS, Babson University, and Duke Corporation. He is serving in various Committees of the ICAP and OICCI Taxation sub-committee. He is also the Board Member of CERM technologies and the Digital Accounting and Assurance Board of ICAP.

Sanam Saeed

An acclaimed actor and former model who predominantly works in Urdu cinema and television. Sanam Saeed is best known for portraying the role of Kashaf Murtaza in HUM TV’s Zindagi Gulzar Hai. After establishing herself as a leading actress in television, Sanam made her film debut with Bachaana (2016) and later appeared in a supporting role in Dobara Phir Se. Her performance in both films earned her nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, at Lux Style Awards. For her performance in Cake (2018) she received a nomination for Best Actress at Lux Style Awards and Pakistan Achievement Awards. In 2019, Saeed was named ‘Pride of Pakistan’ by Daily Times. She is making waves with web series such as Qatil Haseenaon Ke Naam and a forthcoming web series with Fawad Khan.

Sarwat Gilani

Actress and entrepreneur, Sarwat Gilani is a leader in the field of arts and entertainment. A graduate of Interior Design from the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture, Sarwat is a renowned actress and has been acting since 2005. Her latest film Joyland was shortlisted for the Best International Film category at the 95th Academy Awards®. She is the founder of Art House, a learning space driven by art education for children. She is a Brand Ambassador of Special Olympics Pakistan.

Sarwat Mohiuddin

Sarwat Mohiuddin is a poet, painter, translator and prose writer in Punjabi, Urdu, and English languages. She holds a master’s degree in Punjabi literature from the University of the Punjab. Sarwat has to her credit a number of papers on the life and works of the great Sufi poets of Punjab, Punjabi Culture, and Folk Tradition. She is the author of nine books: ‘Kannian’ (poetry); ‘Seik Sunehray’ (poetry); ‘Do Phool Khiley Mahiya’ (poetry); “Geet Hayatee Hoey” (poetry); ‘Raat Ki Dhoop’ (travelogue); ‘Pani ki Kahani’ (children’s storybook); ‘Shehad ki Kahani’ (children’s storybook); ‘Selected translation of Heer Waris Shah into English’ and ‘Maghdey Taarey’ (poetry). A visiting lecturer at various national and international institutes and universities, Sarwat has represented Pakistan at conferences and seminars internationally and has been honoured with various awards both nationally and internationally. Member of the Pakistan Punjabi Literary Board, she is also Vice President of the Pak-Hungarian Friendship Association; former Executive Chairperson of the Asian Study Group of Islamabad; and Book Ambassador of the National Book Foundation.

Selma Dabbagh

Selma is a British Palestinian writer of fiction. Born in Scotland, she has lived in England, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, France, Egypt, and the West Bank. Her novel, ‘Out of It,’ (Bloomsbury, 2011) set between Gaza, London and the Gulf won the Premio Opera Spoleto 2019. Her radio play ‘The Brick,’ set in Jerusalem was produced by BBC Radio 4 in 2014. Selma is currently a judge for the Society of Authors McKitterick Prize and has also worked in TV, film, and theatrical productions. Her short stories and non-fiction have appeared in publications that include the Guardian, the London Review of Books, Granta and GQ magazine. She is the editor of ‘We Wrote in Symbols: Love and Lust by Arab Women Writers,’ (Saqi, 2021). www.selmadabbagh.com Selma also works as a lawyer and is the COO of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) www.icjpalestine.com

Shahbaz Taseer

Shahbaz Taseer is a Pakistani businessman and the son of the late governor of Punjab, Pakistan. Taseer was held in captivity for almost five years and was recovered from Kuchlak, Balochistan, on 8 March 2016. His kidnapping was referred to by The Guardian as one of the highest-profile kidnappings in Pakistan. His book Lost to the World: A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Five Years in Terrorist Captivity (2022) is the memoir of his five-year-long captivity at the hands of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

Shaheen Salahuddin

Shaheen Salahuddin is a well-known TV anchor, journalist, and short story writer. She has over 25 years of experience in the media industry and was formerly the head of Indus News Network. Ms Salahuddin has represented Pakistan on numerous occasions internationally. She is also a fellow of East West Centre (USA), and a founding member of the Think Tank, Karachi Council of Foreign Relations. She has been presented with a number of prestigious awards from various organizations including the Pakistan Federation of Business and Professional Women. She has worked as a peace activist between Pakistan and India along with the late Kuldeep Nayar and Iqbal Haider.

Shahid Javed Burki

Shahid Javed Burki is a prominent professional economist. In 1974, he joined the World Bank as Senior Economist and served as Vice-President of the organization until he took early retirement in 1999. He held several senior executive positions at the World Bank and was a de facto Finance Minister of Pakistan on a caretaker basis (1996–7). He writes a weekly column for The Express Tribune and contributed to the op-ed pages of the Financial Times, London, and The Indian Express, Delhi. He is the author/editor of several books on Pakistan, including ‘Pakistan Under Bhutto’ (1980); ‘Pakistan under the Military: Eleven Years of Zia Ul-Haq’ (with Craig Baxter, 1991); ‘Pakistan: Fifty Years of Nationhood’ (1999); ‘A Historical Dictionary of Pakistan’ (1999); and ‘Changing Perceptions, Altered Reality: Pakistan’s Economy under Musharraf, 1999–2006’ (2007). Presently, Burki is Chairman, Advisory Board of the Burki Institute of Public Policy, Lahore, Pakistan.

Shahid Siddiqui

Shahid Siddiqui is a renowned educationist, linguist, teacher, researcher, academic administrator, and prolific writer. He obtained his PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Toronto, Canada, M.Ed. TESOL from the University of Manchester, UK, and Postdoc research at Oxford University. He has worked in academic and administrative positions at some prestigious universities such as AKU, LUMS, GIKI, and NUML to name a few. He was Vice Chancellor of AIOU from 2014 to 2018. He is currently working as Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Media Studies, Art and Design at Lahore School of Economics. His books include ‘Rethinking Education in Pakistan Perception, Practices, and Possibilities’; ‘Education, Inequalities, and Freedom: A Sociopolitical Critique’; ‘Language, Gender, and Power: The Politics of Representation and Hegemony in South Asia’; ‘Education Policies in Pakistan: Politics, Projections, and Practices’; ‘Aadhay Adhooray Khwab’ (Urdu novel); ‘Zair-e-Aasmaan’ (Urdu); ‘Mausam e Khush Rang’ (Urdu); ‘Potohar: Khitta-e-Dilruba’ (Urdu); ‘Ad Pora Khawab’ (Sindhi); ‘Neem Ghari Khaboona’ (Pashto).

Shahnaz Wazir Ali

Shahnaz Wazir Ali is the President of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) a multi-campus university in Pakistan. In 2016, she was awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz, a national civil award for her services to education. She has an illustrious career as an educationist, development policy specialist, member of parliament, Minister of State for Education, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sectors and as a well-known women’s rights activist. She is a strong advocate for polio immunization and women’s reproductive health. Her long-term commitment to education provision for children of low-income families is reflected in her 53 years of contribution as a Trustee to the Education Trust Nasra Schools in Karachi.

Shamim Hilaly

Shamim Hilaly is a senior and veteran Pakistani television and film actress. She started her career with the comedy-drama, Alif Noon. She acted in Pakistan’s only English language film, Beyond the Last Mountain (1976). Shamim Hilaly’s has worked in several famous dramas including Dil e Muzter, Saiqa, Malaal, Ek Nazar Meri Taraf, and Neeli Zinda Hai. She has also worked in many films like Dobara Phir Se, Chalay Thay Saath, and Pinky Memsaab.

Shamshad Akhtar

Dr Shamshad Akhtar is a former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and has also served as caretaker finance minister. Amongst other positions, she has been an Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and was the tenth Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. She also served as the coordinator of the five UN regional commissions. Dr Akhtar was the UN Secretary General’s Special Senior Advisor on Economics and Finance, and Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. She led the UN-wide coordination of the work on the post-2015 development agenda, and was also the UN Sherpa for the G20, supporting the finance ministers and central bankers track. She has also worked extensively with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The Wall Street Journal Asia has recognised her as one of Asia’s top ten professional women.

Shanaz Ramzi

CEO of Starlinks PR and Events, Shanaz Ramzi has also been working as a freelance journalist since October 1994. She has written for a number of publications both local and foreign and was the Karachi correspondent for the Dubai-based newspaper, Emirates Today. She is also author of Pakistan’s first reference book on Pakistani cuisine, ‘Food Prints’, published by OUP, and a recipe book, ‘Food Tales’, published by Kaatib Publishers. A regular contributor to the magazine sections of the Dawn and Jang group of newspapers, Ramzi has written numerous restaurant reviews and her recommendations/criticisms have carried weight with both readers and restauranters alike. She has served as GM Publications and Public Relations at HUM Network, where she was also the editor of all their publications including the two monthlies GLAM and Masala TV Food Mag. She edited a food-related bi-monthly publication for Lever Brothers, Misen Place, for a year, and also edited the Gourmand award-winning book, Zaiqay Frontier Kay, not to mention a number of cookbooks published by HUM Network.

Shehan Karunatilaka

Shehan Karunatilaka is the winner of the 2022 Booker Prize for his second novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (published as The Birth Lottery in India). He is also the author of the award-winning Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, which was selected for the UK’s 2022 Big Jubilee Read selection.  Born in Sri Lanka, he studied in New Zealand and has lived and worked in London, Amsterdam, and Singapore. He lives in Colombo with his family, his guitars, and his unfinished stories.

Shehnaz Ismail

Shehnaz Ismail is the Founder and Dean, Faculty of Design at The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS). She has spent most of her working life in Academia, including a 13-year stint in secondary education. Since the inception of IVS, she has led the Textile Design department resulting in it being the best in the country. Shehnaz serves on various Boards including the National College of Arts, Lahore, Aurat Foundation, MUET Jamshoro, Academic committee of BNU Lahore, Board member of AHAN (one village one craft) and Senate of Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design, Lahore. In recognition of her academic achievements and professional expertise she was made an Associate of the National College of Arts, Lahore and has been awarded the President’s Pride of Performance for her work in visual art and education in the year 2014. Shehnaz holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the National College of Arts and Hornsey College, London in Textile Design. She currently holds the title of Professor Emeritus at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and serves as adjunct faculty in the department of Textile Design.

Shehzad Sheikh

Shehzad Sheikh is well-known television and film actor. His father Javed Sheikh is one of the most respected and well-known actor, director, and producer in the entertainment industry of Pakistan. He is an alumnus of the New York Film Academy where he studied method acting and filmmaking. In 2022, he received the Hum Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role for the play Phaans at the 8th Hum Awards.

Shelina Bhamani

Dr Shelina Bhamani holds a PhD in Education with a specialization in early childhood development. She is currently Associate Director Education, Allied Health and is leading an early childhood development: parenting readiness education program ECDPREP at the department of obstetrics and gynaecology.  She is a passionate educationist and early childhood development enthusiast and hosts a Facebook community of more than 8k members on Facebook entitled Early Childhood Matters. Dr Bhamani is also an internationally certified educator and postpartum doula and is credentialed to provide parenting education in early childhood years. She has extensively worked with several programmatic agencies like Aga Khan Foundation, USAID, and Aga Khan Education services on various early childhood development and education programs. She has also been associated with highly recognized universities in Pakistan like IoBM, SZABIST, and Greenwich and has been delivering several courses on ECD and human development at graduate and post-graduate level and has been supervising various graduate and post-graduate level students for the same.

Sherry Rehman

Senator Sherry Rehman is Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Climate Change, Vice President of the UNEA, and founding chair of the Jinnah Institute, an Islamabad think tank committed to building inclusion in national security policy. She has served as Pakistan Senate’s first woman Leader of the Opposition as well as Parliamentary Leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party in the Senate and holds a political portfolio as the party’s Vice-President.

Rehman has also served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States and Federal Information Minister while holding three additional portfolios as Minister for Health, Women and Culture. The founding chair of the Senate Parliamentary Caucus on Climate Change, she has served as Chair of the Pakistan Red Crescent.

A former editor of the ‘Herald’ news magazine, Rehman is also an award-winning journalist with 20 years of experience in both the broadcast and print media. Ranked on the Financial Times list of the 25 most influential women of 2022, she currently features on the Forbes 50 List for women achievers for 2023 in Asia, while the Washington Post named her one of the top ten global movers and shakers to watch at COP27 for her climate diplomacy. She has received several awards including the title of Democracy’s Hero; The Freedom Award for her work for media independence; the International Peace Award for Democrats; the Jeanne Kirkpatrick Award for Women; and Pakistan’s highest civil award, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz. Identified as one of the Top Global Thinkers of 2011 by Foreign Policy magazine, she was cover-titled by Newsweek Pakistan as “Pakistan’s Most Important Woman”.

Shoaib Zaidi

Dr Shoaib Zaidi is the founding provost and a professor at UIT University.  Previously he served as the Dean of Electrical Engineering at NED Engineering University and was the founding Dean of Faculty of Engineering at Habib University.  He has an earned doctorate from the University of New Mexico and a masters from the University of Texas at Dallas in electrical engineering; and a bachelor’s in optics from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester and in Physics from the College of Wooster in the USA. He is deeply interested in better preparing our young bright minds for the challenges arising in our rapidly changing world.

Sidra Iqbal

Sidra Iqbal is an internationally acclaimed journalist and infopreneur. She presently hosts and produces one of Pakistan’s leading daily news shows, Aaj Pakistan with Sidra Iqbal for Recorder Television Network (Aaj News). Her journey in finding her voice for positive impact began when she won the English-Speaking Union’s International public speaking championship in London and she was awarded by HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, at Buckingham Palace. In 2005, She became the Youth Advisor to the Ministry of Education, UAE for their Women as Global Leaders program. In 2014, she was awarded the GR8 Women Award for Journalism in Dubai for meaningful contribution to advocacy by the Government of UAE and the Indian Television Academy.

She has worked on the intersection of social impact and tech and contributed to the UNESCO 2015 study ‘Keystones to foster Inclusive Knowledge Societies’. She is also a Global Fellow of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 52 held in Singapore that focused on accountability and transparency of Internet Governance. Sidra is the founder and curator of Raabta – a public diplomacy initiative in partnership with Serena Hotels International. Sidra is an Alumna of the International Leaders Program 2016, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Government of UK, and International Visitors Leadership Program 2011, by the US State Department. She is also the Goodwill Ambassador of leading social impact organizations of Pakistan; the Karachi Down Syndrome Program, The Citizens Foundation (TCF) and Indus Hospitals and Health Network.

Sinan Antoon

Sinan Antoon is a poet, novelist, scholar, and translator. He was born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq and left after the 1991 Gulf War. He holds degrees from Baghdad, Georgetown, and Harvard where he earned his doctorate in Arabic literature. He has published two collections of poetry and five novels. His works have been translated into sixteen languages. A new collection of self-translated poems, ‘Postcards from the Underworld’ is forthcoming later this year from Seagull Books. Antoon’s translation of Mahmoud Darwish’s last prose book, ‘In the Presence of Absence’, won the 2012 American Literary Translators’ Award. His scholarly works include ‘The Poetics of the Obscene in Pre-Modern Arabic Poetry: Ibn al-Hajjaj and Sukhf’ and articles on Arabic poetry and modern Iraqi culture and politics. His essays have appeared in The Guardian, Washington Post, The Nation, and The New York Times and many pan-Arab newspapers and journals. He is Associate Professor of Arabic Literature at New York University.

Sohaib Alvi

Sohaib Alvi has written on cricket for over 40 years in all Pakistani publications and covered Test Matches for The Cricketer International (UK) of which he was Chief Editor of their Asian Edition. He has over a thousand articles/match reports published in Pakistani and foreign publications. He has a blog running on WordPress and Medium and continues to write columns in newspapers. Sohaib has authored four coffee table books on the history of Cricket World Cups and has co-authored a book on the greatest events of Pakistan Cricket to be published by OUP. He is also researching biographies of two former Pakistani cricketers. Since 1999, he has been a regular on several TV channels as an Expert/Host of programs covering cricket events like World Cups/HBL PSL. He has reported on the 2003 World Cup from South Africa and Pakistan tours from England and Australia. An MBA from IBA, Sohaib is a former CEO and before that Head of Marketing. He is now a Corporate Consultant, Trainer, and Coach with 37 years of experience in leadership, building brands and organisational strategy. He now advises clients on Business Strategy, Marketing, HR, and Media Management.

Sophia Bano

Sophia Bano is a poet from Karachi, Pakistan. She holds a B.A. in English and is currently teaching English Literature and History at St. Joseph’s Convent School.

Stephen M. Lyon

Professor Stephen M. Lyon is the Inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the Aga Khan University in Karachi. He is a cultural anthropologist who has carried out extended research in rural and urban areas of Pakistan on the intersection of culture, politics, and resource management. He is the author of Political Kinship in Pakistan: Descent, Marriage, and Government Stability (2019, Lexington Books) and is the Editor-in-Chief of Social Science Computer Review.

Syed Jaffar Ahmed

Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed is Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Sohail University, and Director, Institute of Historical and Social Research, Karachi. He is also a former Director of the Pakistan Study Centre, University of Karachi. After doing his master’s in Political Science with first class first position from the University of Karachi, he was appointed as a lecturer at the Pakistan Study Centre. He did his M.Phil. (Pakistan Studies) in 1987. In 1993, he did his PhD from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge. Dr Ahmed teaches Government and Politics in Pakistan, the History of the Freedom Movement, Research Methodology, and Contemporary Socio-political Issues of Pakistan. He is the author of 30 books and has also compiled books on history, politics, and literature. His authored books include Federalism in Pakistan: A Constitutional Study, and Pakistan: Historical Legacies, Contemporary Issues. His research articles have been published in international and national journals and anthologies. Dr Ahmed has participated in and presented papers at numerous international and national conferences. He delivered lectures and conducted seminars on an international sea voyage from Singapore to Sri Lanka on the famous ship, Peace Boat. He regularly works with civil society organizations on issues of Peace and Human Rights.

Syed Kashif Raza

Syed Kashif Raza— poet, fiction writer, and translator—has authored seven books including two volumes of poetry and a novel. His first novel Char Darvesh aur Aik Katchwa (Four Dervishes and a Tortoise) won the UBL prize for fiction in 2020 and was short-listed for the KLF prize for Urdu Literature in the same year.  His poetry collections Muhabbat ka Mahall-e-Wuqu and Mamnu Mausamon ki Kitab were published in 2003 and 2012, respectively. His poems have been translated into English, Arabic, Hindi, and Sindhi and were also published in the prestigious Portland Review. He has translated into Urdu Muhammad Hanif’s A Case of Exploding Mangoes, Arundhati Roy’s Azadi, and Maniza Naqvi’s A Guest in the House. He has edited a translation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm by Dr Jameel Jalibi and added to it translations of some important essays. He has recently compiled a bilingual anthology with Naila Mehmood about the representation of the corona experience in literature and arts. Syed Kashif Raza has also translated the works of Noam Chomsky, Milan Kundera, Jorge Luis Borges, James Joyce, Isabel Allende and others into Urdu. Raza writes blogs for ‘Aik Rozan’ ‘Laltain’ and ‘Humsub’ websites. He has written socio-political articles, literary essays, and book reviews for Dawn, The News International, Jang and many literary magazines. He is currently working on multiple projects such as compiling/editing the translations of Eqbal Ahmed’s works; working on a third volume of his poetry; and writing travelogues. Raza is a broadcast journalist by profession and works for Geo News as Executive Producer.

Syed Nomanul Haq

Dr Syed Nomanul Haq is a historian, noted especially for his contributions to the fields of intellectual history, philosophy, and literature in Muslim societies. He is the General Editor of Oxford University Press’ Studies in Islamic Philosophy series—one volume of this series has received the coveted Custodians of the Two Holy Mosques award of the Saudi government. Currently, he is teaching at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, and chairs the Arts and Humanities Panel of the Pakistan Higher Education Commission (HEC). A former standing faculty member of Brown, LUMS, and Habib University, he was educated at University College London, as well as Harvard, and was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. His many works of scholarly research have appeared in several international periodicals, and his more general writings have been published by some of the top publishers of the world such as Harvard University Press, Cambridge University Press, OUP at Oxford, and Brill. He is a contributor to the New Cambridge History of Islam, a six-volume work that was awarded the prestigious Waldo Leland Prize of the American Historical Association; he has also been serving as Consulting Editor of Brill’s Journal of South Asian Intellectual History, and as Senior Editor of the periodical Critical Muslim. Recently, he published a critical edition of the complete poetic works of Faiz Ahmed Faiz and continues to contribute to the newspaper Dawn. These days he is working on a critical edition and English Translation of Sufi Hallaj’s Arabic text Kitab al-Tawasin; an Urdu translation of this text is due to be published this year by Daniyal.

Syed Salim Raza

Salim Raza has over 40 years of experience in the banking and financial sector. He held the position of the 15th Governor of SBP after having worked in international banking for 36 years. Prior to that, Salim Raza held various positions at Citibank in Pakistan and abroad and served as the country and regional head for Citibank across various geographies in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, the UK, Central and Eastern Europe. In September 2018, Salim Raza was appointed to the Prime Minister of Pakistan’s Economic Advisory Council as a member representing the private sector. Salim Raza holds a combined BA and MA degree from Oxford University where he studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oriel College. He currently serves on the Boards of Habib Bank Limited, International Industries Limited, and Planet N Group. He is an adjunct professor at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi for Political Economy and also lectures on a variety of economic-development related subjects at different forums.

Syed Shabbar Zaidi

Syed Shabbar Zaidi is a graduate with distinction from Hailey College of Commerce, Lahore, and a Chartered Accountant. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (FCA). He has served as President, ICAP (2005-2006); President, South Asian Federation of Accountants (2008); caretaker minister for Finance, Board of Revenue and Excise & Taxation, Government of Sindh (April-June 2013); Territory Senior Partner, A.F. Ferguson & Co (2014–2019); Chairman, Federal Board of Revenue (2019/20). Among his non-profit work, he is a founder trustee of Sindh Institute of Urology & Transplantation (SIUT) and member, Board of Governors, Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi. He is the author of A Journey for Clarity – An Analysis of Some Accounting Concepts in Taxation Matters; Pakistan: Not a failed State; Panama Leaks: A Blessing in Disguise – Offshore Assets of Pakistani Citizens; Rich people Poor Country – The Story of Fiscal and Foreign Exchange Policies in Pakistan; The Serene Self; Faith with Intellect; and OECD’s Multilateral Instruments & Pakistan’s Bilateral Double Tax Avoidance Agreements.

Taha Kehar

Taha Kehar is a novelist, journalist, and literary critic. A law graduate from SOAS, London, Kehar is the author of two novels, Typically Tanya (2018) and Of Rift and Rivalry (2014). He is the co-editor of The Stained-Glass Window: Stories of the Pandemic from Pakistan. Kehar has served as the head of Peshawar city pages and bi-monthly books page of The Express Tribune and worked as an assistant editor on the op-ed desk at The News. Kehar’s essays, reviews and commentaries have been published in The News on Sunday, The Wire, Critical Muslim, The Hindu and South Asia magazine, and his short fiction has appeared in the Delhi-based quarterly The Equator Line, The Aleph Review, the biannual journal Pakistani Literature and the OUP anthology I’ll Find My Way. Two of his short stories appeared in an anthology titled The Banyan and Her Roots, which has been edited by the British writer Jad Adams. In 2016, he guest-edited ‘Pakistan: After the Stereotypes’ – an issue of The Equator Line – that focused on new writing from Pakistan. Kehar curates ‘Tales from Karachi: City of Words’, an Instagram e-anthology that publishes flash fiction from and about Karachi. He compiled and edited the first print anthology of the initiative titled Tales from Karachi (2021). Based in Karachi, he teaches undergraduate media courses. Kehar’s third novel No Funeral for Nazia will be released this year in the UK.

Tanveer Anjum

Tanveer Anjum is a distinguished poet from Karachi, who emerged on the scene of Urdu poetry in the 1970s and became famous in the genre of prose poem. She is the author of ‘Andekhi Lehrein’ (1982); ‘Safar aur Qaid mein Nazmein’ (1993); ‘Toofani Barishon mein Raqsan Sitarey’ (1997); ‘Sar-o-Barg-e-Arzoo’ (2001); ‘Zindagi Mere Pairon se Lipat Jaaegi’ (2010); ‘Naye Naam ki Mohabbat’ (2013); ‘Hashyon Main Rang’ (2016); ‘Frame se Bahar’ (2016); ‘Nai Zabaan ke Huruf’ (2020); and ‘Fireworks on a Windowpane’ (2014; English translations of her selected poems). She frequently contributes to Urdu magazines with her translations of world literature from English and literary articles. She has a PhD in English from the USA and currently teaches Urdu and English Literature courses at universities in Karachi. She is also the recipient of some prestigious literary awards.

Tariq Rahman

Tariq Rahman has a doctorate in English literature from the University of Sheffield (1985) and a degree in linguistics from the University of Strathclyde (1989). He is the author of Language and Politics in Pakistan (1996); Language, Ideology and Power: Language-Learning Among the Muslims of Pakistan and North India (2002); Linguistics for Beginners: Basic Concepts (2010); From Hindi to Urdu: A Social and Political History (2011); A History of Pakistani Literature in English 1947–1988 (2015); Interpretations of Jihad in South Asia: An Intellectual History (2018). He has contributed about 100 articles in scholarly journals, entries to encyclopaedias, and chapters to edited books. On examination of his published work the University of Sheffield conferred a higher doctorate (D.Litt.) on him in 2014. He was the first Pakistani to be honoured with the Humboldt Research Award—one of Germany’s highest awards for academic research. The National Institute of Pakistan Studies at the Quaid-i-Azam University, where he served as director (2007-2011), made him a professor emeritus in 2010. The Higher Education Commission (Islamabad) conferred upon him the title of Distinguished National Professor in 2004 and gave him a lifetime achievement award in 2009. The President of Pakistan conferred upon him the Pride of Performance in 2004 and the Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 2013. He is presently Dean, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and Acting Dean, School of Education, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore.

Tasneem Anwar

Dr Tasneem Anwar is an Assistant Professor of STEM Education at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED), Karachi. She is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK, and a recipient of HEC’s Best University Teacher Award 2020 and Outstanding Teacher Award 2018. Dr Anwar is an inaugural member of Haile T. Debas Teachers’ Academy, AKU and lead faculty, Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) project at AKU-IED, Karachi, Pakistan. She also leads the special interest group, Critical Digital Pedagogies, at AKU-IED. Dr Anwar leads various faculty development programmes within AKU, and at the national level at HEC’s NAHE-led National Faculty Development Program (NFDP) for Technology Integration in Education. Her work mainly centres around professional development for STEM integration and the purposeful use of educational technologies in teaching and learning.

Uzma Farooqui

Dr Uzma Farooqui is the Chairperson and Professor of the Urdu Department at the University of Karachi. She received her PhD in Urdu in 1999 from the University of Karachi. Dr Farooqui has been teaching Urdu since 1993. She has published 2 books over 30 papers. She worked at the York Catholic District School Board, Canada, as Urdu Language Instructor. She is the editor of ‘Imtezaaj’, a research journal of the Department of Urdu, and a Member of the Board of Faculty and Academic Council at the University of Karachi.

Waheed Noor

Waheed Noor is a lawyer by profession and a former member of the managing committee of the Karachi Bar Association. A social and human rights activist from Lyari, Karachi, he coordinates the literary events organized by the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi. He writes poetry in Urdu and in Balochi and is the author of Sukoot Bol Para.

Wajahat S. Khan

Wajahat S. Khan is an Emmy-nominated journalist and author reporting on Indo-Pacific security and focusing on the Af-Pak conflict. An Adjunct Professor at New York University’s Center of Global Affairs and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at Washington’s Atlantic Council, Khan is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism and the University of Michigan, and Pakistan’s only Shorenstein Fellow from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has reported from 16 countries covering conflict, diplomacy, and media for digital, cable and network news. During the final years of the U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, Khan was bureau chief in Kabul and Islamabad for NBC News and embedded with over a hundred NATO, Afghan, Indian and Pakistani military units as he covered South Asia for leading British, Indian, and Pakistani networks and publications since the beginning of the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. He frequently dabbles with cricket and is the author of the 2019 Amazon/Harper Collins sports bestseller, Game Changer: Being Shahid Afridi. He lives between New York City, London and Karachi and drives a very, very fast car.

Yasmeen Hameed

Founder Director of the Gurmani Centre for South Asian Languages and Literature, Social Sciences Department, LUMS; she worked there from 2007 to August 2016. She is now associated with LUMS as adjunct faculty. Yasmeen Hameed has authored five books of poetry in Urdu. Her book, Pakistani Urdu Verse (2010), was awarded the UBL/Jang Literary Excellence Award in 2012. She has compiled and edited Daybreak: Writings on Faiz (2013); and Naya Urdu Afsana. Her poems have been published in translation in Granta, 112 Pakistan, and the anthology Modern Poetry of Pakistan. She was guest editor of Pakistani Literature (English), published by the Pakistan Academy of Letters, Islamabad and has edited seven volumes of the journal, including two volumes of a special issue on women writers from Pakistan. Yasmeen Hameed was awarded the Tamgha-e Imtiaz (2008) for Literature by the Government of Pakistan.

Yasra Rizvi

Yasra Rizvi is a renowned actress and screenwriter in the television and film industry. After completing her master’s degree in the UK, she began her career as a writer and director and participated in numerous stage performances. She is well-known for her role in Churails, Ustaani Jee, Mann Ke Moti, and Manto.

Yogeshwar Karera

Yogeshwar Karera is a theatre actor working on stage and also applying his craft in television and films. He is currently a student at NAPA, a part-time content creator, and a teacher.

Zahid Hussain 

Zahid Hussain is an award-winning journalist and author. A former correspondent for The Times of London and The Wall Street Journal, he also has covered Pakistan and Afghanistan for several other international publications, including Associated Press, Newsweek, The Economist, and India Today. He is a regular columnist for Dawn. He has published numerous research papers for various international think tanks on subjects related to regional conflicts, terrorism, and geopolitics. Hussain was Pakistan scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington D.C., and Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, and the Henry Stimson Center, Washington D.C. He has worked as a consultant to the World Bank and the Department for International Development (DFID). He regularly participates in international conferences and seminars. Hussain appears regularly as a commentator on various national and international radio and TV channels including BBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera. He is the author of Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam; The Scorpion’s Tail: The Relentless Rise of Islamic Militants in Pakistan—And How It Threatens America; No-Win War: The Paradox of US-Pakistan Relations in Afghanistan’s Shadow; and Hybrid Rule in Pakistan.

Zahra Sabri

Zahra Sabri is Lecturer in Indo-Islamic History and Urdu Literature at the Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts at the IBA, Karachi. She received her MA degree from the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. She has taught History and Urdu Literature at McGill University, Canada, the Aga Khan University, Pakistan, and the University of Karachi’s Pakistan Study Centre. Her research focuses on Mughal History and the influence of the Persianate on Indo-Muslim languages, cultures, and traditions of learning, as well as on politics of identity centred around Urdu in South Asia. She is a literary translator and has translated folk and classical poetry from almost a dozen Pakistani languages for eleven seasons of the popular music programme Coke Studio, Pakistan. She is the curator of Koozah—an anthology of Urdu short stories by new and little-known Pakistani writers (OUP, 2015). She contributes articles to Pakistan’s national press on diverse political and educational issues and has also worked as a journalist for the Herald magazine (Dawn), winning the Zubeida Mustafa Award for Journalistic Excellence (2013).

Zarmina Raza

Zarmina Raza is the co-founder of the truth-telling platform The Crows Karachi as well as the podcast A Cup of Possibilitea. She is also an educator who currently teaches Literature at Cedar, Eden, KGS, and Links, and is on the AKU-IED Blog Editorial Board. In 2020, she started two weekly reading and writing meet-ups to foster creativity and connections during Covid times—Poetry in the Park, an on-site group for young adults, and Inked: Conversations, an online group for adults. Last year, she co-edited and contributed to Inked: Conversations, an anthology about Covid experiences. She writes poetry and creative nonfiction and paints abstracts with acrylics and ink.

Zarrar Khuhro

Zarrar Khuhro is a current affairs commentator and analyst. He is the co-host of Zara Hut Kay, along with Shahzeb Jillani and Wusatullah Khan—a current affairs programme on Dawn News. He also writes a regular column for Dawn. Prior to joining the Dawn group, he was a magazine editor for The Express Tribune. Khuhro has worked extensively in both print and electronic media.

Zia ul Hassan

Dr Zia ul Hassan, a well-known poet and critic, is a Professor at the Institute of Urdu Language and Literature, University of the Punjab, Lahore, and the Head of Dr Jameel Jalibi Chair, University of Karachi. Since 2010, he has been associated with Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) as Adjunct Faculty where he has been teaching courses on fiction. He has also created the syllabus of classes III, VI, and IX for the Punjab Textbook Board. He reviewed eleven books for children as a co-translator which were published under a publication project of the Türkiye Ministry of Culture in 2010. Other than that, he has translated many short stories and poems from English to Urdu.

Zoha Tunio

Zoha Tunio is an investigative journalist with a special interest in climate change reporting. Her words have appeared in the Newsline Magazine, Inside Climate News where she was Roy W. Howard Fellow, Associated Press and the Washington Post. She has written about air quality, extreme heat and the devastating floods in Pakistan. In Nov 2022, she was one of 20 journalists from developing countries around the world to be awarded a fellowship by the Earth Journalism Network to cover Cop27 in Egypt. Zoha earned her bachelor’s degree in media sciences from the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology and a master’s degree in Investigative Journalism at the Arizona State University through the Fulbright program. She lives in Karachi, Pakistan with her parents and house plants.

Zoha Waseem

Dr Zoha Waseem is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick (UK) and Co-Coordinator of the international network of academics, the Urban Violence Research Network. She is the author of the book ‘Insecure Guardians: Enforcement, Encounters and Everyday Policing in Postcolonial Karachi’ (Hurst/OUP 2022). This book explores how security policies tailored towards the interests of insecure elites and regime protection shape the culture of everyday policing in postcolonial contexts, sustaining police militarisation and facilitating reliance upon informal policing practices. She is also co-editor of the forthcoming volume, ‘Southern and Postcolonial Perspectives on Policing, Security, and Social Order’ (Bristol University Press). Zoha is broadly interested in researching the politics of policing and insecurity in hybrid regimes, the strategic utility of informality in policework, pluralised provision of policing and security, militarisation, migration, and postcolonial and decolonial perspectives on crime, security, and policing. Her research has been published in the Journal of Urban Affairs, Policing and Society, and the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. She frequently contributes her commentary and analysis to news media platforms in Pakistan, such as Dawn, as well as international news and academic outlets.

Zohra Yusuf

Zohra Yusuf is a human rights activist and a freelance journalist. She is the former Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and is currently a council member of HRCP. She has been a member of HRCP since 1988; a council member since 1990; served as Vice Chair (Sindh) & as Secretary General also. It should be noted that all positions held for HRCP are voluntary & elected. Zohra’s previous positions in human rights organizations include Vice-President, FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights, Paris-based organization); Bureau Member, South Asian for Human Rights, a Colombo-based human rights organization, and board member of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. She is also among the founding members of Women’s Action Forum. Zohra has written extensively on issues related to the media and human rights. She has also contributed chapters to several books on the media, human rights, peace and culture.

Zubair Torwali

Zubair Torwali is a researcher, author, activist, and educator based in Swat, Pakistan. Zubair has published works in English, Urdu, and in the Torwali language. He has authored and supervised several books in and about Torwali. His book in English, Muffled Voices, provides insight into Pakistan’s social, cultural, and political issues. Zubair has more than two dozen research articles to his credit, along with hundreds of articles in the English dailies and weeklies of Pakistan. His forthcoming books are Torwali English Dictionary for Students; Language, Culture and Ethnicity; Language Endangerment: The State and Communities; Sherbano, a novel in Torwali, and Orthographical Considerations for Minority Language Activists. He co-founded Idara Baraye Taleem wa Taraqi (IBT), an organization focused on education, development, and the empowerment of the marginalized mountain communities of upper Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, in Pakistan.

Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro

Dr Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro is an anthropologist and the author of twelve books. His main area of interest is Pakistan’s heritage, religion, and art, with a special focus on Sindh. He has also researched religion, heritage, Sufism, folk art, asceticism, and mysticism of the Punjab, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan. Currently, Dr Kalhoro is working on five book projects, viz. Sufi Heritage of Sindh; An Engraved Landscape: The Rock Carvings of Taki Valley, Sindh; Shikarpur: Perspectives on Heritage, Religion and Economy; Pictures in Stone: The Rock Carvings of Angai Valley, Sindh; and Deities, Devotees and Dargahs: An Anthropological Study of Religion in Tharparkar. Dr Kalhoro teaches at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Islamabad.