Yasmeen Hameed

Yasmeen Hameed is a Pakistani Urdu poet, translator and educator. She possesses more than 30 years of experience across the fields of literature, art and education.

Early life and education

Hameed completed her initial higher education at Punjab University in Lahore. She earned a B. Sc. in Home Economics from the Home Economics College in 1970. Following this achievement, she pursued further studies in the same city. She obtained an M. Sc. in Nutrition from Punjab University in 1972.

Her academic success resulted in high honors during her university years. She received a Gold Medal and a Roll of Honour from Punjab University in 1972.

Career

Hameed served as the Founding Director of the Gurmani Centre for South Asian Languages and Literature. This center is located within the Social Sciences Department at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). She held this position from 2007 until August 2016.

Her professional reach extends into media and international performance. She has interviewed various renowned Pakistani literary personalities on television. While working in the arts, she wrote English scripts for cultural and fashion shows that the Government of Pakistan sponsored. These performances took place in London in 1995 and Washington in 1996. She also performed during the Cricket World Cup Cultural Festival in Pakistan in 1996.

Hameed is an active participant in poetry symposia at both national and international levels. She contributes a monthly column to the "Books & Authors" supplement of Dawn newspaper. Her literary output includes five published books of Urdu poetry. She is currently preparing several new works for publication. These upcoming projects include an English volume titled Contemporary Verse from Pakistan and a fifth Urdu poetry collection named Bay- samar pairhon ki khwahish.

Awards and recognition

The Government of Pakistan honored Hameed with the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Medal of Distinction) for Literature in 2008. She previously received the Fatima Jinnah Medal for Literature from the Government of Punjab on 8 March 2006. This award was presented to her on International Women’s Day.

Her poetic collections have earned specific accolades over several decades. She won the Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi Award for Poetry in 2001 for her collection, Fana bhi eik saraab. She also received the Hijra Award for the Hijra year 1417, which spanned from June 1996 to May 1997. Additionally, she was granted the Allama Iqbal Award for the collection Aadha Din aur Aadhi Raat. In 2012, she earned the Pakistani Urdu Verse, UBL/Jang Literary Excellence Award.