Ali Akbar Natiq

About Ali Akbar Natiq

Ali Akbar Natiq is an Urdu poet and short story writer from Pakistan. He was born on the 15th of August 1976 in village 32-2L in Okara District in Pakistan. He began working as a mason, specialising in domes and minarets, to contribute to the family income while he read widely in Urdu and Arabic. He began his literary career by publishing his poems and stories in the Karachi literary journals, Duniyazad and Aaj. Natiq has published two volumes of poetry and one collection of short stories, Qaimdeen, Oxford University Press, 2012, the English translation of which by Ali Madeeh Hashmi, What Will You Give For This Beauty? was brought out by Penguin India in 2016. His first novel, Nau Lakhi Kothi,Saanjh Publications, was brought out in 2014. His short fiction has been featured in Granta magazine's special issue on Pakistan. Natiq presently lives and works in Islamabad.