‘Journalists make great poets’
KARACHI: Journalists make great poets. They have a way of knowing, understanding and looking at society and global happenings. How can you write if you don’t know what’s happening in the world.
Poet Javed Saba said this at the launch of poet and journalist Nasira Zuberi’s third book, titled Teesra Qadam, on Saturday at Karachi Press Club.
MPA Mahtab Rashidi, Mubashir Zaidi, Hassan Mansoor and several other journalists attended the event. The ceremony involved several guest speakers, including Anwar Shaoor, a renowned poet, who was the chief guest.
Zaidi joked about how the speakers read out parts of the book at book launches. He said he won’t invite guests at his next book’s launch. “They take up all the time reading and, at the end, the author doesn’t get enough time to share his work.”
Speaking on the occasion, Fazil Jamil said someone once said you don’t become a feminist after reading Zuberi’s poetry. “I feel it’s because poetry has no gender.” He talked about how journalists are not valued for publishing books. “When a journalist publishes a book, people say, ‘Oh, he’s a journalist’ but around the world, they are lauded. Even a lot of Nobel laureates are journalists. I’d say journalism doesn’t devalue them but rather increases their value. It’s their advantage.”
Rashid Noor said Zuberi, in her poetry, doesn’t stray from her point. “Her poems are impactful. I congratulate her on her third step.”
The author recited a few ghazals from her book and mesmerised the audience on which chief guest Shaoor complimented her. “Someone said beauty is for women and love is for men,” he said. “I say both beauty and love are for women. Nasira has a command over literature – both poetry and prose. Even her prose is more literary than journalistic.”
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