Bradford (TDI): In a partnership forged by the British Council Pakistan, the most celebrated icon of Urdu poetry, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, featured in a talk at the Bradford Literature Festival.
British Council connected Pakistan’s Faiz Foundation Trust with the Literature Festival and took Faiz’s poetry on stage for UK audiences. The Bradford Literature Festival is live till 6th July 2025 and officially kickstarted from June 27.
The ten day event is lined with art performances, book talks, panels, author lectures, exhibitions, and what not.
We’re proud to have partnered with the Faiz Foundation Trust and @BradfordLitFest to bring the powerful voice and legacy of Faiz Ahmed Faiz to UK audiences
This collaboration is part of our commitment to connecting artists and audiences across 🇵🇰 and 🇬🇧#Arts #BLF #Faiz pic.twitter.com/nOPXiLdOd2— British Council Pakistan (@pkBritish) June 30, 2025
The talk featuring Faiz was titled: The Poetry of Resistance: Faiz, Neruda, Darwish, and Qabbani, and it explored poetry as an act of resistance and a voice for the voiceless.
The panel brought together Professor Amina Yaqin – World and Postcolonial Literatures Professor at the University of Exeter, Alexandra Pringle – acclaimed author at the Bloomsbury, and Remona Aly – the Chair of the panel, who is a journalist and a broadcaster.
Faiz and Neruda were known friends and fellow travellers in the international struggle for peace and justice. Darwish and Faiz were also dear friends and shared a poetic kinship.
Despite writing in different languages of Urdu, Spanish, and Arabic, these poets are bound by a common ethos: that poetry can confront power, nurture memory, and awaken hope.
About the collaboration, the British Council said, “This collaboration is part of our commitment to connecting artists and audiences across Pakistan and UK.”
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