Poets

Ishrat Afreen (Urdu: عشرت آفرین; Hindi: इशऱत आफरीन; alternative spelling: Ishrat Aafreen; born December 25, 1956) is an Urdu poet and women's rights activist named one of the five most influential and trend-setting female voices in Urdu Literature. Her works have been translated in many languages including English, Japanese, Sanskrit and Hindi. The renowned ghazal singers Jagjit Singh & Chitra Singh also performed her poetry in their anthology, Beyond Time (1987). Famed actor Zia Mohyeddin also recites her nazms in his 17th and 20th volumes as well as his ongoing concerts.

Early Life and Career

Ishrat Jehan was born into an educated family in Karachi, Pakistan as the oldest of five children. She later took the pen name Ishrat Afreen.

She was first published at the age of 14 in the Daily Jang on April 31, 1971. She continued writing and was published in a multitude of literary magazines across the subcontinent of India and Pakistan. She eventually became assistant editor for the monthly magazine Awaaz, edited by the poet Fahmida Riaz. Parallel to her writing career she participated in several radio shows on Radio Pakistan from 1970-1984 that aired nationally and globally. She later worked under Mirza Jamil on the now universal Noori Nastaliq Urdu script for InPage.

She married Syed Perwaiz Jafri, an Indian lawyer, in 1985 and migrated to India. Five years thereafter, the couple and their two children migrated to America. They now reside in Houston, Texas..