Rizwan Akhtar

Published Articles

A poetic journey

Remembering Derek Walcott’s poetry class

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1151549-a-poetic-journey

An affable dissident

Milan Kundera’s wit challenged exile and Stalinism, fostering faith in the democracy of the written word.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1093041-an-affable-dissident

The departed muse

Majeed Amjad’s meeting with a German girl had a tremendous influence on his poetry and his life.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1002081-the-departed-muse

The curious case of withering whiteness

Rizwan Akhtar | Literati | September 18, 2022

An enduring preoccupation with racism as humanity’s inimitable challenge.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/991881-the-curious-case-of-withering-whiteness

The poet who flinched from the limelight

Philip Larkin’s reputation as a man may have suffered recently. However, his place among the 20th Century poets stays intact

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/983663-the-poet-who-flinched-from-the-limelight

Prometheus reignited

200 years after the mysterious death of the revolutionary poet, PB Shelley, his poetry continues to provide answers to the evils of authoritarianism and religious oppression

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/977965-prometheus-reignited

An émigré at home with all and none

Zulfikar Ghose (1935-2022) suffered from academic neglect in his life but his attention to aesthetic design, literary style and subject matter was second almost to none

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/973924-an-migr-at-home-with-all-and-none

Playful and political

Wislawa Szymborska believed that only creativity can save humanity from degradation.

https://jang.com.pk/thenews/mar2012-weekly/nos-04-03-2012/lit.htm#2

Life of an exile

The life and times of Joseph Brodsky, the exiled Russian poet.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1158295-life-of-an-exile