The first female writer to add the word ‘larki’ into her poetry and essays, Parveen Shakir was born in Karachi in 1952. Being a lover of Urdu prose, she started writing at a very young age. It did not take her long to compose and spread her first volume of verse, Khushbu [Fragrance], to incredible recognition, in 1976. After gaining quick popularity, she wrote even more frequently and came out with other volumes like Sad-barg [Marsh Marigold] in 1980, Khud Kalami [Talking To Oneself] and Inkaar [Denial] in 1990. She also wrote Kaf-e-Aina [The Mirror’s Edge] and sent her work to daily paper segments, named Gosha-e-Chashm [Corner of the Eye]. Parveen was a woman of class, elegance, and showed a strength that few writers at the time had.
Having done her matriculation in 1966, intermediate in 1968, B.A (Hons) in 1971 and M.A (English) from Karachi University in 1972, Parveen gave her CSS exams in 1982 and secured second position in Pakistan. She attained two graduate degrees, one in English Literature and the other one in Linguistics. She was constantly studying and loved to learn new things. Before joining the civil service, she taught for nine years. She wanted to provide girls with a chance to get better education and played her part by standing up for women rights everywhere. In 1986, she was delegated as the second secretary, Federal Bureau of Revenue in Islamabad. She then went to Harvard University to pursue her studies further.
Parveen Shakir’s ghazalyaat are viewed as “a mix of established convention with present day thoughtfulness”, and primarily manage the ladylike point of view on affection and sentiment, and related subjects. She writes about attractiveness, closeness, parting, terminations, spaces, doubts, unfaithfulness, and betrayal. Her work has been praised and she received the Pride of Performance before her sudden death in a car crash in 1994.
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