Agha, Wazir

Agha, Wazir (1922-) Writer. Hailing from Sargodha, Wazir Agha is a poet, critic and journalist, writing in Urdu. He graduated from Government College, Lahore, with a degree in economics, and holds a Doctorate in Literature from Punjab University. Wazir Agha started writing poetry in his student days, when he came under the influence of the creative ideas of the founders of modern poetry in Pakistan: Miraji, Muhammad Din Taseer and Noon Meem Rashid.

Wazir Agha uses European styles and forms in his work, such as ballads, sonnets and vers fibre. He also experiments with rhymes and metres. From 1960 to 1963, he edited the left-wing literary journal Adabi Duniya (The World of Literature). He lives in Lahore and Sargodha, where he owns a publishing house.

Since 1966, he has edited the magazine Auraq (pages). An accomplished literary scholar, he promotes new ideas and techniques in writing, while respecting classical literary traditions. His critical treatises are well known, not only in Pakistan and India, but also in Western academic circles. His work won him several prestigious literary prizes.