PRESIDENT :

FOUNDATION OF SAARC WRITERS AND LITERATURE

Registration No. S-39661, June 8, 2001

CHAIRPERSON :

ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS AND LITERATURE

Registration No. S-8780, September 15, 1977

FOUNDER PRESIDENT :

INDIAN COUNCIL FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION

Registration No. S-21992, June 24, 1991

Born: Lahore, November 16, 1934.

Masters in Economics.

HONOURS :

2006- PADMASHRI (NATIONAL HONOUR OF INDIA)

1986- SAHITYA AKADEMI AWARD (HIGHEST LITERARY AWARD OF INDIA).

BHARATIYA BHASHA PARISHAD AWARD

SELECTED 'ONE OF THE THOUSAND PEACE CRUSADORS OF THE WORLD' FOR COLLECTIVE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE.

1992- AWARDED 'MOST HONOURED CREATIVE PERSONALITY OF PUNJAB'.

2004- AWARDED AS 'MOST HONOURED PUNJABI WRITER' BY PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA, 2004.

PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AWARDS.

AUTHORED :

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS :

Gulbano

Butt Shikan

Mehak Di Maut

Faltu Aurat

Saviyan Chirian

Maut Ali Babe Dee

Na Maaro

Apne Apne Jangal

November Churasi

Kasaayee Waarha

NOVELLAS :

Dhupp Wala Shehar

Post Mortem

Gauri

Kattiyan Lakeeran

Dhooan Dhooan Aasmaan

Hauke Dee Haneri

AUTOBIOGRAPHY (in two volumes):

Khaana Badosh

Koorha Kabaarha

TRANSLATIONS AND TRANSCREATIONS :

Emerson's Essays,Henry James' Portrait of a Lady, K.A. Abbas's Return of the Red Rose, Hawthorn's The Scarlet Letter,Khushwant Singh's The Sikhs,

Sitakant Mahapatra's Chirhiye Nee Too Kee Jaane, Ramakanta Rath's Raatan Hoyeean Lammiyan.

SKETCHES OF CREATIVE WRITERS AND ARTISTS :

Takiye Da Peer

TRAVELOGUE :

Kache Rangaan Da Shehar, London

RESEARCH WORKS

Kulwant Singh Virk: A Monograph

History of Punjabi Literature for 'Encyclopedia of Indian Literature'.

In 1975, compiled and edited the first-ever DIRECTORY OF INDIAN WOMEN. Commissioned by Smt. Indira Gandhi. It contained bio-datas of 6000 women achievers in different professions.

UNESCO declared it the 'Most Comprehensive Document of Women Achievers of a country anywhere in the world'.

EDITED AND COMPILED:

Kulwant Singh Virk's short stories with a well-researched Preface.

Several anthologies of Fiction and Poetry and Ideas of eminent writers of the SAARC Region (Co-Editors : Prof. K. Satchidanandan, Dr. Ashok Vajpeyi, Prof. Pankaj Bhan and Noor Zaheer) :

Chasing the Clouds and Other Stories

SAARC Writers Building Bridges For Cultural Harmony and Peace

Voices of Asia : An Anthology of SAARC Fiction

Shamsur Rahman : A Witness of His Times

Beyond Borders : An Anthology of SAARC Poetry

Cultural Connectivity for Peace in South Asia

Our Voices : An Anthology of SAARC Poetry

Ghar Barabar Laltein and Other Stories (Hindi)

City in an Oyester

Folklore : The Intangible Cultural Heritage of SAARC Region Volume-I and II

Together We Survive

Folklore : Across the Boundaries of the SAARC Region

Folklore : Stagnant Ponds Flowing Rivers

The Songs We Share

Gone with the Soil : An Anthology of Fiction from SAARC Countries

The Eight Neighbours : Together We Survive

Sufism : A Celebration of Love

Published books of SAARC Authors :

Ripples of the Mahanadi, by Mayadhar Mansinha

In the Other Bengal : A Creative Travelogue, by Ramkumar Mukhopadhyay

The Arrival : A novel portraying emancipation of a Dalits life,by A.M. Gondane

Crying for Kurukshetra : a Play, by Suryakanthi Tripathi

Padma Meghna Jamuna : Modern Poetry From Bangladesh, by Kaiser Haq

Tagore and Nazrul Islam : Vision and Poetry, Edited by Sitakant Mahapatra, Prafulla K. Mohanty

Co-Editing (with Prof. K. Satchidanandan) BEYOND BORDERS, the first SAARC Journal of the Region.

PAPERS PRESENTED

at Universities in India and abroad :

'Punjab, Punjabi Culture, Punjabi Literature'

'Indian Cultural Heritage'

Cultural Connectivity in SAARC Region

Multi-Dimensional Problem Areas in the SAARC Region

Fiction of SAARC Writers

Poetry of SAARC Poets

Socio-Economic Problems in SAARC Countries

Voices of SAARC Women

Need for Translations of SAARC Literature

Sufism and Bhakti and Budhism : Cultural and Civilisational links in the SAARC Region

Two Punjabs and Two Bengals : Common Heritage and Language Links

Punjabi Fiction

Contemporary Punjabi Fiction after Partition

Influence of Partition on Punjabi Writing

Progressive Writers of Punjab

Punjabi Poetry

Writer's Concerns

'During My Journey for Cultural Connectivity in the SAARC Region' some Anecdotes

SPECIAL GUEST:

in Cultural Exchange Programmes of :

Swedish Government, 1986

Government of China, 1991

Government of Hungary, 2001

Soviet Union, 1989.

U.S.A. Library of Congress, 2009

SAARC Cultural Centre, Sri Lanka, 2010

OTHER DISTINCTIONS:

Five films made on her stories.

Sixty eight doctorates have been done on her writings in various Indian Universities so far.

Eight Films made on her by National TV (Doordarshan), by US Library of Congress, by Mass Communication Graduates of Jamia (the film won an International Award in New York), by Michael Singh (U.S.A.), by Charu of National Institute of Films, Pune.

HER WORKS HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED IN MAJOR INDIAN AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES.

PIONEERED CULTURAL CONNECTIVITY WITH SAARC NEIGHBOURS,

SINCE 1986.

Founder and President of FOUNDATION OF SAARC WRITERS AND LITERATURE (FOSWAL), the first Cultural and Literary Initiative in the SAARC region.