Kishwar Naheed is one of the loudest voices in modern Urdu poetry — and one of the most often misunderstood. The kishwar naheed books shelf is not a shelf of novels: she is a poet first, and everything else she wrote — a fearless memoir, translations, books for children, newspaper columns — grows out of that poetry. This guide walks through her books one by one, explains what makes her voice different, and suggests where a new reader should start.
Her Life in Brief
Kishwar Naheed was born in 1940 in Bulandshahr, in what was then British India, into a Syed family. She was a child when Partition tore the subcontinent apart and witnessed its violence at close hand — an experience that stayed with her and runs through her work. Her family moved to Lahore in 1949.
A note on her birth date: Wikipedia gives 18 June 1940 and Rekhta's profile gives 17 June 1940, while Wikipedia's own footnote adds that her official documents record 3 February 1940, "which is not correct". This guide uses 18 June, the date most commonly cited, and flags the disagreement rather than hiding it.
Schooling did not come easily. In her family and her time, girls were not expected to go to school, and she fought for her education, studying at home and by correspondence before her brother Syed Iftikhar Zaidi paid for her college tuition. She completed the Adeeb Fazil degree in Urdu, learned Persian, and went on to a BA in 1958 and an MA in Economics in 1960 from Punjab University, Lahore. A later interview recalled them a year later (BA 1959, MA 1961); this guide follows the biographical record. In 1960 she married her friend, the poet Yousuf Kamran; they had two sons, and after her husband's death in 1984 she raised the family alone.
Beyond writing, she held serious public roles: Director General of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts before her retirement, editor of the literary magazine Mahe Naw, and founder of Hawwa, an organisation that helps women without an independent income earn one through cottage industries and handicrafts. She also writes a weekly column for the Daily Jang.
The Books One by One
Lab-e-Goya (1968)
Her first poetry collection, Lab-e-Goya — "speaking lips" — is the book that made her name. It is a collection of ghazals, traditional in form and anything but traditional in voice, and it won the Adamjee Literary Award, the most respected literary prize of its time.
A note on the award year: Wikipedia and the Poetry Translation Centre give the Adamjee Award as 1968, the year the collection was published, while several biographical sites give 1969. The prize itself is not in doubt — only the year differs — and this guide records both. The title is also spelled Lab-i goya and Lab-i-Guya in different transliterations; this guide uses Lab-e-Goya, the spelling most sources use.
The Later Poetry Collections
After Lab-e-Goya, she kept publishing poetry for five decades. The later collections are harder to pin down, because different sources list different titles and years — a problem this guide flags rather than smooths over.
- Benaam Musafat ("Nameless Distance") — listed by Encyclopedia.com as 1971, though the Poetry International bibliography lists a Sang-e-Meel edition dated 1991. The year is therefore uncertain; the book itself is not.
- Nazmen (1975) — a collection of nazms, listed by Encyclopedia.com.
- Galiyan Dhoop Darwaze (1978) — "Lanes, Sunshine, Doors".
- Dasht-e-Qais Mein Laila (2001) — her Kulliyat, or collected poems, published by Sang-e-Meel in a volume of 1,312 pages.
- Warq Warq Aaina (2006) — also rendered Warq Warq Aina, "Leaf by Leaf, a Mirror".
- Raat Ke Musafir (2011) — listed among her later books.
- Aabad Kharaba (2016) — her most recent collection named in the standard bibliography.
A note on the count: Wikipedia and Rekhta say 12 volumes of poetry, the Poetry Translation Centre says six collections appeared between 1969 and 1990, and one publisher biography says nine volumes. The difference comes from how reprints, new editions, and the Kulliyat are counted. This guide lists the named collections it could verify, and does not claim the list is complete.
Buri Aurat Ki Katha — The Memoir
If Lab-e-Goya made her a poet, Buri Aurat Ki Katha — "A Bad Woman's Story" — made her a public figure of a different kind: a frank, combative memoir about a woman who refuses the labels put on her, controversial ever since it appeared.
A note on the date: the Oxford University Press author biography says it was published in Pakistan in 1994 and in India the following year, 1995, and academic writing describes it as appearing in the early 1990s. The year 2003, which appears in some listings, does not match any of these sources and is not used here. Wikipedia's own books table misspells the title as "Buri Aurat Ki Khata"; the correct spelling, used by the English translation and by scholars, is Katha.
The English translation, A Bad Woman's Story, translated by Durdana Soomro for Oxford University Press, is dated 2009 in some catalogues and 2010 in Wikipedia's table. This guide records both years.
Translations — Hers and of Her Work
Translation runs both ways through her shelf. Her Urdu rendering of Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, Aurat Ek Nafsiyati Mutala, appeared in 1982 and won a Best Translation award from Columbia University (the award year is not given in the sources consulted). Her own poems reached English readers in The Distance of a Shout (2001, Oxford University Press), a volume of her Urdu poems with English translations.
Her best-known poem, Hum Gunahgar Aurtein — "We Sinful Women" — gave its title to a groundbreaking anthology of contemporary Urdu feminist poetry, translated and edited by Rukhsana Ahmad and published in London by The Women's Press in 1991. The anthology is not her book, but its title is her line, and it is how many readers outside Pakistan first met her.
Books for Children
She has also written books for children — eight, according to Wikipedia and Rekhta, though one publisher biography claims twelve. Her best-known children's book, Dais Dais Ki Kahanian, won the UNESCO Prize for Children's Literature. Other titles listed in her bibliography include Aankh Micholi and Chidiya aur Koyal, and three books published in New Delhi in 2012: Jadu Ki Handiyan, Sher Aur Bakri, and Chand Ki Beti.
Other Prose
A 2025 article in the Journal of Research (Urdu) on her prose names further works — Shenasaiyan Ruswaiyan, Buri Aurat Ke Khatoot, Kishwar Naheed Ki Notebook, Muthi Bhar Yaadeen, and Buri Aurat Ki Dusri Katha — but gives no publication years, so this guide names them without dates. Her Daily Jang columns were collected and published in 1999.
Recognition
Her honours include the Mandela Prize (1997), the Kamal-e-Fun Award for lifetime achievement (Pakistan Academy of Letters, 2015), and the Premchand Fellowship (Sahitya Akademi of India, 2016). A note on the Sitara-e-Imtiaz: Wikipedia's awards table, the Poetry Translation Centre, the Karachi Literature Festival, and the National Rural Support Programme all give 2000; only Wikipedia's infobox gives 2020. This guide follows the majority. The Karachi Literature Festival also records a Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2022.
Her Style: What Makes Her Different
Three things set Kishwar Naheed apart from the poets around her.
First, her directness. She names what others leave unsaid — a woman's anger, her body, her refusal — in plain language that leaves no room for polite misunderstanding. That is why "We Sinful Women" became an anthem for Pakistani feminists, and why her work has drawn both praise and backlash for decades.
Second, her voice is a witness's voice. She saw Partition as a child and spent her working life inside Pakistan's public institutions, through martial law and censorship. Her politics come from what she lived through, which is why her poems read as personal feeling and public statement at the same time.
Third, her range of form. She writes ghazals in the classical tradition alongside nazms and free verse, and moves between poetry, memoir, translation, and children's writing without losing her voice. Readers who like this direct feminist voice will also find our Fahmida Riaz books guide useful — a different poet, but a fellow traveller. And her ghazals sit in the tradition our Ahmed Faraz books guide explores, though the two poets use it very differently.
Where to Start
- First book: Lab-e-Goya. It is where her voice first appears in full, and it is still the best single introduction.
- First memoir: Buri Aurat Ki Katha, or A Bad Woman's Story in English. Read it to understand the person behind the poems.
- For the committed reader: Dasht-e-Qais Mein Laila, the collected poems, which gathers a lifetime of work.
- For younger readers: Dais Dais Ki Kahanian, the award-winning children's book.
- For readers new to classic Urdu writing: our guide to reading classic Urdu novels gives practical advice on approaching older books without getting lost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Kishwar Naheed write novels? No. She is a poet first. Her prose is memoir, newspaper columns, translations, and books for children — not fiction. Any listing that calls her a novelist is mistaken.
What is Kishwar Naheed's most famous book? Lab-e-Goya (1968), her first poetry collection, which won the Adamjee Literary Award. Her memoir Buri Aurat Ki Katha is her best-known prose book.
What is "We Sinful Women"? Her best-known poem, Hum Gunahgar Aurtein, which gave its title to a 1991 anthology of contemporary Urdu feminist poetry edited by Rukhsana Ahmad. The poem itself is often called a women's anthem among Pakistani feminists.
What awards has Kishwar Naheed won? The Adamjee Literary Award for Lab-e-Goya, the UNESCO Prize for Children's Literature, the Mandela Prize (1997), the Kamal-e-Fun Award (2015), and the Sitara-e-Imtiaz — 2000 by most sources, though Wikipedia's infobox says 2020. The Karachi Literature Festival also records a Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2022.
Where should a new reader start? With Lab-e-Goya, then the memoir Buri Aurat Ki Katha. Together they show both sides of her: the poet and the woman who refused to be quiet.
Research date: November 8, 2026.
Sources
- Kishwar Naheed — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishwar_Naheed (birth date and footnote, family, career, bibliography, awards, translations, children's books)
- Kishwar Naheed — Profile & Biography, Rekhta: https://www.rekhta.org/authors/kishwar-naheed/profile (birth date as given by Rekhta, pen name, poetry volumes, children's books)
- Kishwar Naheed — Poetry Translation Centre: https://www.poetrytranslation.org/poet/kishwar-naheed/ (first collection and Adamjee Prize, PNCA role, Mahe Naw, Hawwa, collection count 1969–1990)
- Kishwar Naheed — Poetry International: https://poetryinternationalweb.org/pi/site/poet/item/23747/Kishwar-Naheed (Adamjee Prize 1968, Benaam Musafat edition 1991, Sitara-e-Imtiaz 2000, PNCA role)
- Naheed, Kishwar (1940–) — Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/naheed-kishwar-1940 (Benaam Musafat 1971, Nazmen 1975, Dasht-i qais men Laila 2001, The Price of Looking Back 1987)
- Kishwar Naheed — Karachi Literature Festival: https://www.karachiliteraturefestival.com/speakers/kishwar-naheed-3/ (Sitara-i-Imtiaz 2000, Hilal-e-Imtiaz 2022, Oxford University Press works)
- A Bad Woman's Story — Oxford University Press author biography, via Tertulia: https://tertulia.com/book/a-bad-woman-s-story-a-translation-of-buri-aurat-ki-katha-kishwar-naheed/9780195477375 (memoir published 1994 in Pakistan, 1995 in India; Kulliyat 2001, 1,312 pages; Jang columns collected 1999)
- A Bad Woman's Story — edition details, Exotic India Art: https://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/bad-woman-s-story-ihg093/?currency=HKD (English translation edition 2009)
- Kashif-ur-Rehman, "A psychological study of Kishwar Naheed's prose", Journal of Research (Urdu) 41(1), June 2025: https://jorurdu.bzu.edu.pk/website/journal/article/6862b3a0d7389/abstract (later prose works named without years; memoir described as philosophical autobiography)