https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Agha_Shahid_AliAgha Shahid Ali - Revision history2026-07-31T17:01:13ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Agha_Shahid_Ali&diff=315592&oldid=prev2409:4054:500:74FF:0:0:627:F0A1 at 14:47, 21 June 20222022-06-21T14:47:51Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian-American poet}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| honorific_prefix = <br />
| name = Agha Shahid Ali<br />
| image = AghaShahidAliPic.gif<br />
| birth_name = Agha Shahid Ali<br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1949|02|04}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Delhi]], [[East Punjab|Punjab]], [[Dominion of India|India]]<br />
| relations = Agha Ashraf Ali (Father) <br/> Prof. Agha Iqbal Ali (brother)<br/> Prof. Hena Ahmad , Prof. Sameetah Agha (Sisters) <br />
[[Agha Shaukat Ali]] (Uncle) [[Begum Zaffar Ali]] (Grandmother)<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2001|12|08|1949|02|04}}<br />
| resting_place = [[Amherst, Massachusetts]]<br />
| alma_mater = [[University of Kashmir]]<br/>[[University of Delhi]]<br/>[[University of Arizona]] (MFA)<br/>[[Pennsylvania State University]] (PhD)<br />
| known_for = National Book Award 2001, Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada<br />
| credits = [[The Country Without a Post Office]], Rooms Are Never Finished and The Rebel's Silhouette<br />
| occupation = Poet, Professor<br />
| awards = [[Pushcart Prize]]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Agha Shahid Ali''' (4 February 1949 &ndash; 8 December 2001) was an [[Kashmir]]-born [[poet]] who immigrated to the [[United States]]<ref name="Jacket Magazine-Agha Shahid Ali">{{cite web|url = http://jacketmagazine.com/18/ali.html| title = A Tribute to Agha Shahid Ali|publisher = [[Jacket (magazine)|Jacket Magazine]]|access-date = 2 January 2010}}</ref><ref name="King-Kok Cheung">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6v659OPjoKIC&pg=PA194 |title = An interethnic companion to Asian American literature|quote=Contemporary South Asian American writers belong primarily to this middle and upper class: Kashmiri-American Agha Shahid Ali, Meena Alexander, Bharati Mukherjee, Vikram Seth, Pakistani American Sara Suleria, Javaid Qazi, Indo-Canadian Rohinton Mistry, Uma Parameswaran, Sri Lankan Canadian Michael Ondaatje, and Indo-Guyanese Canadian Cyril Dabydeen, among others.|publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]|access-date = 2 January 2010|isbn = 9780521447904|year = 1997}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Manan Kapoor|first=Sahapedia|title=How the legendary Begum Akhtar influenced the life and poetry of Agha Shahid Ali|url=https://scroll.in/article/923025/how-the-legendary-begum-akhtar-influenced-the-life-and-poetry-of-agha-shahid-ali|access-date=2020-08-05|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US}}</ref> who became affiliated with the [[literary movement]] known as [[New Formalism]] in [[American poetry]]. His collections include ''A Walk Through the Yellow Pages'', ''The Half-Inch Himalayas,'' ''A Nostalgist's Map of America'', ''[[The Country Without a Post Office]]'', and ''Rooms Are Never Finished,'' the latter a finalist for the [[National Book Award]] in 2001.<br />
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The [[University of Utah Press]] awards the Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize annually in memory of this "celebrated poet and beloved teacher."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uofupress.com/ali-poetry-prize.php|title=Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize|work=uofupress.com|access-date=18 January 2015}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Early life and education==<br />
Agha Shahid Ali was born in [[Delhi]], [[East Punjab]], [[Dominion of India]], into the illustrious [[Qizilbash]]i Agha family of [[Srinagar]], [[Kashmir valley|Kashmir]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://kashmirlife.net/kandahars-qizilbash-issue-35-vol-09-157293/ |title = Kandahar's Qizilbash|date = 30 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://aghafamilyofsrinagarkashmir.wordpress.com | title=Agha Family of Srinagar Kashmir}}</ref> He grew up in India's [[Kashmir Valley]], and left for the United States in 1976.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rattle.com/the-veiled-suite-the-collected-poems-by-agha-shahid-ali/|title=The veiled suite, the collected poems by agha shahid ali|publisher=Rattle|date=10 June 2009|author=Sarah Wetzel-Fishman}}</ref> Shahid's father Agha Ashraf Ali was a renowned educationist. His grandmother [[Begum Zaffar Ali]] was the first woman matriculate of [[Kashmir]].<ref name="Outlook India-Kashmir Conflict & Agha Shahid Ali">{{cite web|url = http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?216239| title = 'The Ghat of the Only World': Agha Shahid Ali in Brooklyn|publisher = [[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]|access-date = 2 January 2010}}</ref> Shahid was educated at the [[Burn Hall School]], later [[University of Kashmir]] and [[Hindu College, University of Delhi]].<ref name="Jacket Magazine-Agha Shahid Ali"/> He earned a PhD in English from [[Pennsylvania State University]] in 1984, and an M.F.A. from the [[University of Arizona]] in 1985.<ref name="Jacket Magazine-Agha Shahid Ali"/> He held teaching positions at nine universities and colleges in India and the United States.<ref name="Jacket Magazine-Agha Shahid Ali"/><br />
<br />
Shahid was born a [[shiite|Shia Muslim]], but his upbringing was secular. Shahid and his brother Iqbal both studied at an [[Irish Catholic]] [[parochial school]] and, in an interview, he recalled that: "There was never a hint of any kind of parochialism in the home."<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://thewire.in/books/i-write-on-that-void-kashmir-kaschmir-cashmere-qashmir-remembering-agha-shahid-ali |title = 'I Write on that Void: Kashmir, Kaschmir, Cashmere, Qashmir' – Remembering Agha Shahid Ali}}</ref> He was [[gay]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lifestyle.livemint.com/how-to-lounge/books/agha-shahid-ali-poet-without-boundaries-111625054098659.html|title =Agha Shahid Ali: A poet beyond boundaries|date =July 2021}}</ref><br />
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He died of [[brain cancer]] in December 2001 and was buried in [[Northampton, Massachusetts]], in the vicinity of [[Amherst, Massachusetts|Amherst]], a town sacred to his beloved poet [[Emily Dickinson]].<br />
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==Literary work==<br />
Ali expressed his love and concern for his people in ''In Memory of Begum Akhtar'' and ''The Country Without a Post Office,'' which was written with the [[Kashmir conflict]] as a backdrop.<ref name="Outlook India-Kashmir Conflict & Agha Shahid Ali"/> He was a translator of Urdu poet [[Faiz Ahmed Faiz]] (''The Rebel's Silhouette; Selected Poems''),<ref>[http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/~amit/books/faiz-1995-rebels-silhouette-selected.html Book Excerptise:Rebel's Silhouette] (extended extracts and literary history)</ref> and editor for the Middle East and Central Asia segment of [[Jeffery Paine]]'s ''Poetry of Our World''.<ref>[http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/~amit/books/paine-2000-poetry-of-our.html Poetry of Our World] (excerpts)</ref> He also compiled the volume ''Ravishing DisUnities: Real [[Ghazal]]s in English.'' His last book was ''Call Me Ishmael Tonight'', a collection of English [[ghazal]]s, and his poems are featured in ''American Alphabets: 25 Contemporary Poets'' (2006) and other anthologies.<br />
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Ali taught at the [[MFA Program for Poets & Writers]] at [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]], at the MFA Writing Seminars at [[Bennington College]] as well as at creative writing programs at [[University of Utah]], [[Baruch College]], [[Warren Wilson College]], [[Hamilton College (New York)|Hamilton College]] and [[New York University]].<br />
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== Personal life ==<br />
<br />
Shahid Ali never married.<ref>{{Cite journal |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/23344550|title =Agha Shahid Ali as I Know Him | journal= Indian Literature| publisher= Sahitya Akademi| volume= 46|issue =1 |jstor =23344550 |last1 =Mattoo |first1 =Neerja |year =2002 |pages =175–179 }}</ref> He was rumoured to be gay.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://theprint.in/features/i-once-danced-with-agha-shahid-ali-the-man-who-knew-his-poetic-destiny/245091/|title =Dancing with Agha Shahid Ali | publisher= The Print| date= 4 June 2019}}</ref><br />
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== Bibliography ==<br />
This list represents the published output of Ali, arranged in chronological order and sorted by the manner in which he contributed to the work in question.<br />
<br />
=== Poetry ===<br />
<br />
* ''Bone Sculpture'' (1972), <br />
* ''In Memory of Begum Akhtar and Other Poems'' (1979), <br />
* ''The Half-Inch Himalayas'' (1987), <br />
* ''A Walk Through the Yellow Pages'' (1987), <br />
* ''A Nostalgist's Map of America'' (1991), <br />
* ''The Beloved Witness: Selected Poems'' (1992), <br />
* ''The Country Without a Post Office'' (1997), <br />
* ''Rooms Are Never Finished'' (2001), <br />
* ''Call Me Ishmael Tonight: A Book of Ghazals'' (2003).<br />
<br />
=== Translations and edited volumes ===<br />
<br />
* Translator, ''The Rebel's Silhouette: Selected Poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz'' (1992),<br />
* Editor, ''Ravishing Disunities: Real Ghazals in English'' (2000).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Parveen|first1=Rasheda|title=Agha Shahid Ali's English Ghazals and the Transnational Politics of Literary Subversion|journal=The Challenge|date=2014|volume=23|issue=1|url=http://www.thechallenge.org.in/PDF%20jan%202%20june%202014/AGHA_SHAHID_ALI___S_ENGLISH_GHAZALS.pdf|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081631/http://www.thechallenge.org.in/PDF%20jan%202%20june%202014/AGHA_SHAHID_ALI___S_ENGLISH_GHAZALS.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Influences==<br />
Ali was deeply moved by the music of [[Begum Akhtar]]. The two had met through a friend of Akhtar's when Ali was a teenager and her music became a lasting presence in his life. Features of her ghazal rendition—such as wit, wordplay and ''nakhra'' (affectation)—were present in Ali's poetry as well. However, [[Amitav Ghosh]] suspects that the strongest connection between the two rose from the idea that "sorrow has no finer mask than a studied lightness of manner"—traces of which were seen in Ali's and Akhtar's demeanor in their respective lives.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ghosh|first1=Amitav|title=The Ghat of The Only World|url=http://www.amitavghosh.com/aghashahidali.html|website=Amitav Ghosh}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://scroll.in/article/923025/how-the-legendary-begum-akhtar-influenced-the-life-and-poetry-of-agha-shahid-ali |title = How the legendary Begum Akhtar influenced the life and poetry of Agha Shahid Ali}}</ref><br />
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== Awards ==<br />
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* [[Pushcart Prize]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://poets.org/poet/agha-shahid-ali|title=About Agha Shahid Ali {{!}} Academy of American Poets|last=Poets|first=Academy of American|website=poets.org|access-date=2019-12-04}}</ref><br />
* [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] in [[List of Guggenheim Fellowships awarded in 1996|1996]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gf.org/fellows/results?query=&lower_bound=1996&upper_bound=1996&competition=ALL&fellowship_category=ALL&x=26&y=11|title=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation - Fellows|date=22 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622013547/http://www.gf.org/fellows/results?query=&lower_bound=1996&upper_bound=1996&competition=ALL&fellowship_category=ALL&x=26&y=11|archive-date=22 June 2011|access-date=2019-12-04}}</ref><br />
*[[Bread Loaf Writers' Conference]] Fellowship<ref name=":0" /><br />
*[[Ingram Merrill Foundation|Ingram-Merrill Foundation]] Fellowship<ref name=":0" /><br />
*[[New York Foundation for the Arts]] Fellowship<ref name=":0" /><br />
<br />
==Notes==<br />
{{notelist}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Further reading==<br />
*'[https://thewire.in/books/i-write-on-that-void-kashmir-kaschmir-cashmere-qashmir-remembering-agha-shahid-ali I Write on that Void: Kashmir, Kaschmir, Cashmere, Qashmir' – Remembering Agha Shahid Ali] ''[[The Wire (Indian web publication)|The Wire]]''<br />
*[http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/looking-for-shahid/article2677458.ece Looking for Shahid] ''[[The Hindu]]''<br />
*Eric Pace (26 December 2001) [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/26/arts/agha-shahid-ali-52-a-poet-who-had-roots-in-kashmir.html Agha Shahid Ali, 52, a Poet Who Had Roots in Kashmir] ''[[The New York Times]]''<br />
*Brief biography at the [http://www.umass.edu/wgbycourses/AghaAli.htm University of Massachusetts]<br />
*[https://scroll.in/article/923025/how-the-legendary-begum-akhtar-influenced-the-life-and-poetry-of-agha-shahid-ali How the legendary Begum Akhtar influenced the life and poetry of Agha Shahid Ali]<br />
* {{cite journal|last1=Parveen|first1=Rasheda|title=AGHA SHAHID ALI'S ENGLISH GHAZALS AND THE TRANSNATIONAL POLITICS OF LITERARY SUBVERSION|journal=The Challenge|date=2014|volume=23|issue=1|url=http://www.thechallenge.org.in/PDF%20jan%202%20june%202014/AGHA_SHAHID_ALI___S_ENGLISH_GHAZALS.pdf|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081631/http://www.thechallenge.org.in/PDF%20jan%202%20june%202014/AGHA_SHAHID_ALI___S_ENGLISH_GHAZALS.pdf|url-status=dead}}<br />
* {{cite journal|last1=Rath|first1=Akshaya K.|title=Ethno-Sexual Violence: A Study of Agha Shahid Ali's Kashmiri Poetry.|journal=Kavya Bharati|date=2010|volume=22|url=http://www.scilet.org/download/KB/KB22.pdf|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924095327/http://www.scilet.org/download/KB/KB22.pdf|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}<br />
*{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpyxDgAAQBAJ|title=Mad Heart Be Brave: Essays on the Poetry of Agha Shahid Ali|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=2017|isbn=9780472053506|editor-last=Ali|editor-first=Kazim}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
* [http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/127 Agha Shahid Ali] at [[Poets.org]]<br />
* [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/agha-shahid-ali Agha Shahid Ali] at the [[Poetry Foundation]]<br />
* [http://www.uofupress.com/ali-poetry-prize.php Agha Shahid Ali prize], University of Utah Press<br />
* [http://kafila.org/2011/01/30/%E2%80%98i-swear-i-have-my-hopes%E2%80%99-agha-shahid-ali%E2%80%99s-delhi-years/ 'I swear...I have my hopes: Agha Shahid Ali's Delhi Years'], Kafila.org<br />
* [http://www.biblio-india.org/archives/10/MA10/tocMA10.asp?mp=MA10/ 'The Veilied Suite: The Collected Poems by Agha Shahid Ali'] biblio-india.org, March–April 2010.<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Agha Shahid}}<br />
[[Category:1949 births]]<br />
[[Category:2001 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]<br />
[[Category:American male writers of Indian descent]]<br />
[[Category:American people of Indian descent]]<br />
[[Category:American people of Kashmiri descent]]<br />
[[Category:English male poets]]<br />
[[Category:Formalist poets]]<br />
[[Category:Ghazal]]<br />
[[Category:Hindu College, Delhi alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]<br />
[[Category:New York University faculty]]<br />
[[Category:Pennsylvania State University alumni]]<br />
[[Category:PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners]]<br />
[[Category:Translators from Urdu]]<br />
[[Category:University of Arizona alumni]]<br />
[[Category:University of Kashmir alumni]]<br />
[[Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty]]<br />
[[Category:University of Utah faculty]]<br />
[[Category:Urdu–English translators]]</div>2409:4054:500:74FF:0:0:627:F0A1