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A former associate of the late Palestinian leader and Nobel Laureate Yasser Arafat and four-time contender for the Nobel Poetry Prize will be honoured posthumously at The University of Western Australia with a competition at which speakers will recite his poems in Urdu and English.

Renowned Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz was a human rights activist, journalist, literary editor, trade unionist and film song-writer.

The recital forms part of a symposium at which Faiz's daughter, Moneeza Hashmi, is the keynote speaker. She is a television producer and director, and the driving force behind the Faiz Foundation Trust set up to promote her father's progressive and humanist ideas. Ms Hashmi is also President of the UK-based Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, the largest global association of public service broadcasters.

UWA's Centre for Muslim States and Societies (CMSS) has organised a six-speaker panel - "A   Symposium on Faiz Ahmed Faiz: A Progressive Writer".

The symposium will also commemorate Faiz's friend Begum Sarfraz Iqbal's services to Urdu literature.

Other speakers include Muhummad Yousaf (Mr Books), a publisher and patron of literature in Pakistan; Ghulam Abbas Gillani, Councillor, Liverpool Council, NSW; Victoria Schofield, journalist and Associate at Pakistan Security Research Unit, UK; Rizwann Zeb, PhD scholar at the CMSS; and Dr Mohammed Ali of the Urdu Society, Canberra.

The panel discussion will be followed by the recital competition. Part of the competition will be an explanation of why the poem was chosen.

The seminar and recitals will be held on 2 May at the Case Study Room, the University Club, from 6pm to 10pm. Tickets $10 including refreshments.

RSVP by Friday 27 April to Beth Meertens (UWA Centre for Muslim States and Societies) (+61 4) 21 192 328, [email protected]

Media references

Beth Meertens (UWA Centre for Muslim States and Societies)  (+61 8)  6488 4556  /  (+61 4) 21 192 328
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783