Parveen Shakir is widely considered to be the greatest Urdu female poet. She was born in Karachi Ð Pakistan on 24 November 1952 and started writing both prose and poetry at an early age, contributing columns to newspapers and articles to English dailies. Shakir published 5 books of poetry to great acclaim, the first being ÔKhushbuÕ [ÔFragranceÕ] (1976), followed by ÔSad BargÕ [ÔMarsh MarigoldÕ] (1980), ÔKhud KalamiÕ [ÔSoliloquyÕ], ÔInkarÕ [ÔDenialÕ] (1990), and ÔKaf e AinaÕ [ÔThe Mirror's EdgeÕ] besides a collection of her newspaper columns entitled ÔGosha e ChashmÕ [ÔThe Sight CornerÕ]. She died in a car accident on 26 December 1994, when her car collided with a bus while on her way to work. 'After Parveen Shakir' is the first substantial selection of Shakir's work translated into English.