An influx of immigrants from Pakistan and India in the late 1960s and early 1970s brought some Urdu poets with established credentials to Canada. Urdu poetry in Canada is still in its formative stage, although a number of Canadian Urdu poets have gained international recognition.
Urdu poetry encompasses a variety of forms, but the most popular is the ghazal, which consists of 7 to 11 rhyming couplets. Each couplet, like a haiku, is a complete entity in itself; the connections between the couplets comprise sound, not sense. All other forms of Urdu poetry, with the exception of the qaseeda, a panegyric ode (one that praises its subject), and the rubai, a quatrain, fall under the broad category of nazm (poem).
Urdu poetry is meant not only to be read, but to be heard and performed. The mushaira, an old literary and cultural institution unique to Urdu, is an event during which poets recite their poetry, with the most junior presenting first and the most senior following. Mushaira is aimed at creating an appreciation for poetry while entertaining the audience.
Several events in the 1970s and '80s helped to promote Urdu poetry in Canada. A significant number of Canadian Urdu writers and poets participated in those events, helping to establish a Canadian Urdu tradition. Today the number of Urdu writers in Canada is considerable, and many of them are well known in Canada and abroad. Notable among them, to name only a few, are Shanul Haq Haqqi, Wali Alam Shaheen, Faruq Hassan, Irfana Aziz, Abid Jafri, and Faisal Azeem. Two journals, Urdu International, published in Toronto (in Urdu, edited by Ashfaq Hussain), and Urdu Canada, published in Ottawa (in English, edited by Wali Alam Shaheen), were instrumental in promoting Urdu poetry and literature in Canada. Both are defunct.
Learn more in The Canadian Encyclopedia