The Story of Eve : Selected Poems

Among the first women to gain recognition and fame in the almost entirelymale-dominated field of Urdu poetry, Zehra Nigah (born in 1935) is todaytaller than any Urdu-language poet writing in South Asia or beyond. She isalso an eagerly awaited figure on the mushaira circuit in India and Pakistan.A classicist in style, her themes are urgent and contemporary—she has beenhailed for ‘saying “big” things in a seemingly conversational manner’. Thisselection contains her best-known nazms and ghazals, which showcase herlyricism and also her deep insight into the human condition and the social andpolitical realities of our age and our region.Among the gems in this collection are poems like ‘Bhejo Nabi ji Rehmatein’,‘Mein Bach Gayi Ma’, ‘Qissa Gul Badshah’ and ‘Insaf ’, which have as their themessexual war crimes against women, female infanticide, repressive Shariahlaws and child soldiers in a ‘religious’ war; tender, bitter-sweet poems aboutlove and family relationships, like ‘Shaam ka Pehla Taara’, ‘Ek Sachchi Amma kiKahani’ and ‘Qurbaton se Kab Talak Apne ko Behlayenge Hum’; and wise and movingreflections on the emotional and social life of a woman—‘Samjhauta’, ‘Hawwa kiKahani’ and ‘Sylvia Plath’.Translated with regard and respect for both the poet and the English-languagereader, this collection is a splendid introduction to the work of a legend ofUrdu poetry. Read more