Iftikhar Arif

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