The flute of memory

by Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah

Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 1964

About the author

Zaib-un-Nissa was a Pakistani Bengali writer and journalist. She was a pioneer of Pakistani literature and journalism in English, and also a pioneer of feminism in Pakistan. She was Pakistan's first female columnist (in English), editor, publisher and political commentator. Zaibunnisa Street in Karachi was named for her.

Before independence in 1947, she wrote for many Indian newspapers, and was the first Muslim woman to write a column in an Indian newspaper. After independence, her column in the newspaper Dawn made her the first female political commentator in Pakistan. After she left Dawn, she became the founder and editor-publisher of the Mirror, the first social glossy magazine in South Asia.

Due to her status as Pakistan's first female editor, she became the first woman to be included in press delegations sent to other countries. On one of these delegations, in 1955, she became the first woman to speak at the ancient al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.

Bibliography:

Indian Bouquet, 1941 – Gulistan Publishing House, Calcutta.
Lotus Leaves, 1946 – The Lion Press, Lahore.
Sixty Days in America, 1956 (2nd edition: 1957) – Mirror Publications, Karachi.
The Young Wife, 1958 (2nd edition: 1971; 3rd edition: 1987; 4th edition: 2008, by Oxford University Press)
The Flute of Memory, 1964 – Mirror Publications, Karachi.
Poems, 1972 – Mirror Publications, Karachi.