Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi

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Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, (Urdu: احمد ندیم قاسمی) born Ahmed Shah Awan(Urdu: احمد شاہ اعوان ) was a legendary Urdu and English language Pakistani poet, journalist, literary critic, dramatist and short story author. He wrote 50 books including poetry, fiction, criticism, journalism and art. He was a major figure in contemporary Urdu literature. His poetry stood out among his contemporaries' work for its unflinching humanism, and his Urdu afsana (novel) work is considered by some second only to Prem Chand in its masterful depiction of rural culture. He was also editor and publisher of literary magazine Funoon for almost half a century, grooming generations of new writers. He wrote many English poems and short stories. His poem The Feed is included in the syllabus of intermediate classes in Pakistan. He received awards the Pride of Performance in 1968 and Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1980 for his literary work.


Qasmi was born on November 20, 1916, in the house of Peer Ghulam Nabi Qasmi,in the village Anga of Khushab District in British India. He received his secondary education from Campbellpur in 1931, around the time when he wrote his first poem, he moved to the Sadiq Egerton College in Bahawalpur and graduated from University of the Punjab, Lahore in 1935. He had one brother peerzada Mohammad Bakhsh Qasmi and a sister. He belongs to a religious peerzada family of Qadri. He became active member of the Progressive Writers Movement as a secretary, and was consequently arrested many times during the 1950s and 1970s.

He was died on the July 10, 2006 of complications from asthma at Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore.