The Women’s College at Aligarh Muslim University launched the Women Writers’ Forum on 13 October 2026. The forum gives students a place to write, share their work and learn from established authors.
What the forum will do
- Help students build their writing skills.
- Bring students into contact with working writers and different points of view.
- Give new writers a supportive space to share their work.
Principal Prof. Shagufta Imtiaz welcomed the initiative and spoke about the importance of language and literature. Prof. Nazia Hasan set out the forum’s aim of building a literary community at the college.
The guests
- Zehra Naqvi, author and independent journalist, whose work covers gender, literature, religion and politics. She wrote The Reluctant Mother: A Story No One Wants to Tell.
- Dr Moid Rasheedi, poet and Urdu scholar, who spoke about poetry and literary scholarship.
Book launch
The event also launched Dr Nazish Begum’s book Kathya-Vinyas Se Shilp-Saundarya Tak: Kahani Pravah Ka Samikshatmak Paathh, a critical study of the craft of Kahani Pravah. Students recited poetry in several languages.
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Creative writing workshop
- “Modes of Seeing: The Writer as Observer and Explorer”: Zehra Naqvi spoke on building writing skills and getting a book published.
- Imagination and originality: Dr Rasheedi spoke on the role of imagination in creative writing and the value of an original voice at a time when AI is being used in creative work.
The programme was compered by forum secretary Maliha Iqbal and joint secretary Samiya Akram.
Women’s College has a long history at AMU, going back to the girls’ school founded by Sheikh Abdullah and Wahid Jahan Begum. Read about their granddaughter Shahla Haider.
Source: AMU Public Relations Office, 14 October 2026.
