Some famous Pakistani poets in English

Taufiq Rafat (1927-1998) : was a pioneering Pakistani author and poet. His work influenced other Pakistani poets and he is credited with the introduction of the concept of a "Pakistani idiom" in English literature . His main works include 'Half Moon' (1979) and 'Arrival of the Monsoon' (1985)

Alamgir Hashmi (born 1951) is one of the most famous living Pakistani poets writing in English. He has published many poetical works in Pakistan and other countries , including 'The Oath and Amen', 'America is a Punjabi Word', 'My First in Kentucky', 'This Time in Lahore', 'Sun and Moon and other poems', and 'The Ramazan Libation' and etc. He is still writing and is based in Islamabad city, Pakistan

Daud Kamal (1935-1987) was a fine poet, one of the best from Pakistan, who belonged to Peshawar city, North West Frontier Province (KPK) of Pakistan . He was a professor at the University of Peshawar. His notable books of poems include 'Before the Carnations wither' and 'Compass of Love and other poems'.

Omer Tarin (born 1967) is one of the most notable contemporary Pakistani poets writing in English. He also belongs to the NWFP/KPK province of Pakistan. He is also a scholar and a Sufi mystic. He has written a number of books including five books of poetry, namely 'A Sad Piper', 'The Anvil of Dreams', 'Burnt Offerings', 'The Harvest of Love Songs' and 'Riverbeds Flowing' . He has also developed further the poetic ideas of earlier poets and writers like Taufiq Rafat. His poetry is marked by a very evocative imagery.

Maki Koreshi (1927-1995) was probably Pakistan's finest female poet in English , with a delicate and very sensitive writing style. Her poems were published in anthologies like 'The Far Thing' (1995) and 'Wordfall' (1975). She taught for 30 years at the University of Karachi, Pakistan, and died in 1995. Her nephew is Hanif Koreshi, the British-Pakistani writer.

Waqas Ahmed Khwaja (born 1952) is a Pakistani poet now settled in the USA, where he is teaching at a college and he has also written a number of well-received books of poetry, including 'Miriam's Lament and other poems', 'Six Geese at a Tomb in Medum' and 'Hold your breath'.

Moniza Alvi (born 1954) is a British-Pakistani poet, she is settled in the UK and has written a substantial collection of poetry. She is a very versatile and some of her main collections include 'Homesick for the Earth', 'Europa', 'Souls', 'A Bowl of Warm Air' and 'Peacock Luggage'. She has won several prizes for her poetry.

Zulfikar Ghose (born 1935) is an American-Pakistani poet and author and he taught for many years in the USA. Although better known as a novelist today, he has also written some impressive poetry. His main poetical collections are 'Jets from Orange', 'A Memory of Asia', 'Geography Lesson' and 'Decomposition'.

Raja Changez Sultan (born 1948) is both a poet and a painter and artist. He was Connecticut Student Poet in 1972, while still earning his BSC at Trinity College, Hartford. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing and an MS in Journalism from Columbia University, New York . He was Director General of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts and served two decades in the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation. He continued to paint and write tirelessly throughout his career and even beyond his retirement from government service.

Harris Kahlique (born 1966) is a well known and rising poet of Pakistan who writes verse in both English and Urdu. His best known English verse collection is 'If wishes were horses' (1996) . He has also written a sizable amount of prose work and is a social activist.

Rukhsana Ahmad (born 1948) is a British-Pakistani poet, novelist and playwright. She is settled in London, UK. She is a Fellow of the Royal Literary Society. She has won many accolades for her work.

Kaleem Omar (1937-2009) was a Pakistani poet and journalist. His work is included in the anthologies Pieces of Eight, Wordfall and A Dragonfly in the Sun .

Imtiaz Dharker (born 1954) is a British-Pakistani poet, illustrator and documentary filmmaker . She was born in Lahore, Pakistan, but now lives fulltime in the UK. Dharker has written 6 books of poetry--- Purdah (1989), Postcards from God (1997), I speak for the Devil (2001), The Terrorist at my Table (2006), Leaving Fingerprints (2009) and Over the Moon (2014) (all self-illustrated). He daughter Ayesha Dharker is a film actress.

Ejaz Rahim (born 1949) is a poet and retired civil servant from Pakistan. He obtained Master’s in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies at The Hague, Netherlands. He also holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from Government College, Lahore. Mr. Ejaz Rahim has been engaged in writing poetry and has published nineteen books so far.

Syeda Hina Faisal Imam (née Hina Babar Ali, born 1956) is an English language poet from Pakistan. She is best known for her popular collection of verse, Midnight Dialogue (1990) ; and has also published many other poems in several anthologies.

Ilona Yusuf (born 1962) is an English language poet from Pakistan and also an editor and critic. She is also a designer and print-maker. Presently she is Associate Editor of The Aleph Review, she has also freelanced for Nukta, Newsline, and ArtNow, and written essays on Pakistani poetry in English .