Attiya Dawood


Attiya Dawood is a Sindhi poet, writer, feminist and activist. She was born in Moledino Larik She has been hailed as one of the most important feminist Sindhi writers of her time. Dawood uses her poetry to highlight the oppression of women in Sindhi society in the name of tradition. She has been writing poetry since 1980.

Early life

Attiya Dawood moved to Karachi in 1975, and has been writing poetry regularly since 1980. Her father was a school teacher, a poet and a Hafiz.
She changed her name from Attiya Larik to Attiya Dawood in the early 1970s. Her first poem, published in a Sindhi-language newspaper, received a negative reaction from her brothers; as a result she changed her name.
Dawood's biography Ainay kay Saamnay was published by Oxford University Press in 2009. An earlier version was published in Hindi in India in 2000 by Rajkamal Prakashan. Dawood wrote the story of her life during a residency at the Sanskriti Kendra in New Delhi, an institution that supports artists.

Selected works

Attiya Dawood has numerous publications to her credit. She writes mostly in Sindhi. She draws inspiration from her traumatic girlhood experiences in rural Sindh. Her poems have been translated into German, English and Urdu. Her poetry is noted for its sincerity and zeal.
YearTitlePublisherNotes
1995Raging to be FreeMaktab-e-Danyal, KarachiEnglish translation by Asif Farrukhi
1997Sharafat Jee PulsaratSuhaee BooksSharafat Ka Pul-e-Sarat - Urdu translation by Fahmida Riaz
Aap ka jism aur sehatWada Kitab Ghar
2001Sindhi aurat kee kahaniSeen Publishers
2002Sindh ki aurat sapney sai such takShehrazad
2002Un poori chadarKoonj Publications
2009Ainay kay SaamnayOxford UniversityAutobiography

TitleUrduGermanEnglish
Sharafat Jee PulsaratSharafat Ka Pul-e-SaratDer schmale Steg der Ehre
Amar GeetAmar GeetA Song Everlasting
SafarDie Reise
Be-rang TasveerFarbloses Bild
Preet Ji ReetGeschichte der Liebe

Selected awards