I AM one of two of Pakistan`s senior poets in English. My anthology was published as part of Pakistan`s Jubilee series in 1997. I have been writing for several decades. I am also the only Pakistani to have won the Guinness Poetry Prize. However, I do not write to win prizes. I write because I love writing.
All artistes share a commitment to art.
We work hard to `get there`. It is an enormous struggle. There are usually no rewards. No grand recognition comes our way. But we still carry on writing. That iswhat serious art is about. It is also about thought, style and form and the felicitous convergence of the three. That is something we aim at but do not always achieve.
Nevertheless, we value the great literary tradition to which, regardless of origin, we all belong.
There are numerous luminaries in the realm of both poetry and fiction. We all pay homage, beyond all others, to Shakespeare.
Sadly, the Nobel committee has thought fit this year to redefine literature in conferring the award on Bob Dylan. This opens the way for artistes such as Lady Gaga to qualify in following years. The bathos of the moment has been lost on no one. It was a populist move and may have served to appease literary orphans and the disaffected but has caused dismay to those of us who seek to uphold literary value.
Levity has won out. The world is suddenly a darker place.
