The Story of Eve

Among the first women to gain recognition and fame in the almost entirely male-dominated field of Urdu poetry, Zehra Nigah (born in 1935) is today taller than any Urdu-language poet writing in South Asia or beyond. She is also an eagerly awaited figure on the mushaira circuit in India and Pakistan. A classicist in style, her themes are urgent and contemporary—she has been hailed for ‘saying “big” things in a seemingly conversational manner’. This selection contains her best-known nazms and ghazals, which showcase her lyricism and also her deep insight into the human condition and the social and political realities of our age and our region.