KARACHI: One of the well-attended postlunch sessions on the second day of the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) on Saturday was a discussion on the life and work of actor, the late Moin Akhtar, on the basis of the book Moin Akhtar: One Man Show. It was moderated by the artist`s son Sharjeel Akhtar.

Writer Anwar Maqsood, going down memory lane and pointing out the sharpness of the actor`s mind, narrated the story when for a script of a show Akhtar contributed to the spoof of the Aatish ghazal, Ye aarzu thi tujhe gul ke ru ba ru kerte. Akhtar`s said, Ye aarzu thi tujhe SHO ke rubaru kerte.

Mr Maqsood said after Akhtar passed away, the channel on which both used to do the extremely successful programme Loose Talk asked him to do the show again. To which Maqsood replied only if the seat in front of him could be filled by Moin Akhtar.

Poet Ghazal Ansari spoke about the kindheartedness of the late actor. She said 32 years ago, a request was published to the government in Dawn that a young man was dying of cancer and if he could be sent abroad for a bone-marrow transplant. At midnight, the family of that patient received a call from Moin Akhtar who had returned from a concert and had read the news in the paper. The next day, he came to the patient`s house and met with him and his three children. The actor said he wouldn`t know about the government, but he could do whatever it was in his capacity to alleviate the suffering. A day later, he called a press conference and highlighted the issue.The patient had also expressed his desire to perform Umrah during his conversation with Akhtar. Some time later, Akhtar had to visit Jeddah for a programme so he listed to take the patient along in the troupe for him to perform the Umrah. Unfortunately, the programme got cancelled but the patient was able to perform Umrah. Two months later, the cancer patient died; he was Ms Ansari husband.

Actress Zeba Shehnaz told the audience that she belongs to a Pakhtun tribe therefore it was difficult for her to get into showbiz. When she as a student acted in Shoaib Mansoor`s Fifty-Fiftyon PTV, Akhtar was starting his theatrical practice in Karachi. He needed a girl like her for a play. He came to Shehnaz`s place and sought permission from her father to act. Her father said it was Akhtar`s duty to pick her up to get to work and drop her off at home. And Akhtar did that.

Book of English poetry launched A collection of English poems titled Coming of Age by eminent poet Salman Tariq Kureshi was launched in one of the pre-lunch session moderated by Hoori Noorani at the 16th KarachiLiterature Festival (KLF).

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Kureshi said he started writing at a very young age. A lot of poems in his mother`s personal library were English language poems. His father`s collection had more Persian stuff which he didn`t understand. He had definite ideas about poetry at a young age. `This book carries my work of more than 60 years, including `Hummingbird`. It wasn`t my first poem. What I wrote before that were totally discardable exercises.

`Hummingbird` was my first attempt at a serious poem which I gave for publication to The Ravi. It was my first year at Government College (Lahore). They did not consider it worth publishing. But I`ve reproduced it here.

He said he`s asked why he writes in English.

His answer is you write in a language that you know best. `My mother was English speaking. I write in English. I have tried Urdu. I have written in Urdu. But my work in Urdu was substandard. I think in English. I dream in English.

That`s the fact of the matter.

He said he`s also been asked about the kind of poems he writes and about his influences. `My influences, those of you who know 20th century English poetry, are T S Eliot, Ezra Pound and the imagists. Imagism captures the look, the feel or the smell of a place or locale. The meaning it arrives is going to vary and for others to find.

He said when of his influences in later life was Ted Hughes. He also mentioned the poet Robert Lowell, saying he was such a great writer that he was bound to have influences on any writer.

On his art, he said: `I like to stay in control [in my poems]. I don`t want to write a diary or a journal. I believe myself to be an artist and when an artist creates, let the reader or the audience t enjoy or decipher.

Amberina Kazi, Sheema Kermani and Zarmina Raza spoke about Mr Kureshi`s poetry and recited his poems as well.