ISLAMABAD: A young writer from Quetta was named the first-ever winner of the National Commission on the Status of Women’s (NCSW) Literary Award for her short story Jhoola on Monday.

The NCSW launched the award to encourage women writers who promote women’s rights through their work.

The award winner was announced during a press briefing at the National Press Club.

The winning writer, Javeria Khan, also read out her story at the briefing. Jhoola follows a poor couple, their son and a monkey and goat that are their source of income.

Their son, Saleem, falls ill but they cannot afford to pay for a doctor. The father sells their baby monkey for Rs1,000, but Saleem faces a prolonged illness.

Javeria Khan’s Jhoola follows a poor couple as they try to bear the expenses of their son’s illness

At the end of the story, the mother leaves Saleem in Edhi’s jhoola, believing that way he will get the food and medicine he needs.

Ms Khan said she began writing in school but was discouraged by her teachers because she was not following the school’s guidelines on how to answer questions.

She said incidents such as earthquakes, floods and blasts would make her think about the aftermath, which motivated her to write stories.

“If we do not think, ‘what will happen now’, we will not be able to come of that incident successfully,” she added.

The NCSW also announced that advertisements seeking submissions for the 2019 award will be published in newspapers soon. The award, which is divided into fiction in Urdu and in regional languages, aims to encourage and promote women writers in the country. Winners receive a monetary prize and their work will be published by the commission.

For the 2018 award, the commission had called for original unpublished works by Pakistani women up to the age of 35. Women from across the country were asked to submit short stories, poetry or novels in Urdu or a regional language.

The NCSW received 19 submissions, all of which were reviewed by a committee of judges appointed by the commission. Judges included poet Kishwar Naheed, writer and journalist Salma Baluch, Amar Sidhu, writer Dr Asif Aslam Farrukhi and NCSW member Kausar S. Khan.

Speaking at the briefing, NCSW Chairperson Khawar Mumtaz spoke about the importance of promoting women writers for the larger purpose of women empowerment.

She said women writers fail to publish or promote their work because of the lack of platforms and financial resources.

“The purpose of this award is to provide them with a platform where their creative work is recognised and promoted,” she said.

Ms Mumtaz said the award will be a regular activity, and also announced a regular initiative at the NCSW of interaction with creative women under the title ‘Inspiring Women’.

Ms Naheed praised Ms Khan for her courage and determination, and said there were many such writers and poets who await opportunities and platforms to express themselves.

“I loved the stories written by Javeria because of the originality of her work, and I called her before the announcement of the winner just to encourage her and tell her how beautifully she writes. All of her stories have different subjects but they all highlight issues faced by women,” she said.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2018