Samina Raja is a renowned Pakistani poetess, writer, editor, translator, educationist and broadcaster. She writes in Urdu

Urdu

Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

. She lives in Islamabad

Islamabad

Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...

, Pakistan and works in the National Language Authority

National Language Authority

The National Language Authority is an autonomous regulatory institution established in 1979 to support the advancement and promotion of Urdu which is the national language of Pakistan. Initially it was aimed at creating a synergy between national and provincial governments and institutions for...

 as a Subject Specialist.

Biography

Raja was born on 11 September 1961 in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. She has a Master's degree in Urdu Literature from Punjab University Lahore. She started writing poetry in 1973 and has published twelve books of poetry, two Kulliat and one selection of her romantic poetry so far. She has written some books in Urdu prose and has edited and translated some valuable works of prose from English to Urdu.

Raja joined the National Book Foundation as a consultant and editor of monthly Kitab in 1998. In 1998 she also joined monthly Aassar as an editor.

As a media person, she has been conducting All Pakistan Mushairas since 1995 on Pakistan Television (PTV). She also has presented a long series of a famous literary program Urdu Adab Mein Aurat Ka Kirdar "The Role of Woman in Urdu Literature" on PTV.

Raja currently works as a Subject Specialist in the National Language Authority, Islamabad and is planning to bring out a new literary magazine Khwabgar[the Dream Maker]'s Ahmad Faraz (a great Urdu poet) number.

Books of poetry

She started writing in 1973 and has published twelve collections of her poetry. Following are the titles of her published books with their meanings in chronological order.

1. Huweda [1995]
2. Shehr e saba [1997]
3. Aur Wisal [1998]
4. Khwabnaey [1998]
5. Bagh e Shab [1999]
6. Bazdeed [2000]
7. Haft Aasman [2001]
8. Parikhana [2002]
9. Adan Ke Rastey Par [2003]
10. Dil e Laila [2004]
11. Ishqabad [2006]
12. Hijr Nama [2008]

She also has published two Kulliat and one selection of her poetry,

1. Kita e Khwab [2004]
2. Kitab e Jan [2005]
3. Woh Sham Zara Si Gehri Thi [2005]

Poetry traits

The femenine and human perspectives of love and longing, nostalgias of past and past lives, socio psychological problems of the new age, mythological and metaphysical subjects.
Raja is the most prolific poetess of her time and has full command on both Ghazal and Nazm.

Books of prose and translations

1. Sharq Shanasi [2005] Orientalism by Edward Said
2. Bartanvi Hind Ka Mustaqbil [2007] Verdict on India by Beverley Nichols

Editorship

Raja has also been the editor of four literary magazines

1. Mustaqbil [1991,1994]
2. Kitab [1998,2005]
3. Aasar [1998,2004]
4. Khwabgar [2008]

Recent activities

She is working as a Subject Specialist in NLA and has restarted her literary magazine Aassar. She is publishing a special issue of her new magazine Khwabgar, Ahmad Faraz number.