Taufiq Rafat

Taufiq Rafat was born in 1927 in Sialkot. He got his education from Dehra Dun, Aligarh and Lahore. He was a famous Pakistani poet and writer as well. He was regarded as pioneer of English language poetry and writing in Pakistan. He has depicted the real culture of Pakistan in his writings. He was an admirer of Ezra Pound, T. S Eliot and W. H Auden. Taufiq Rafat is the one poet whose work has appeared in all three of Pakistan's major anthologies. First Voices (1965), Pieces of Eight (1971) and Wordfall (1975). He also wrote a full-length play in verse: The Foothold, which remains unpublished but was performed by The Government College Dramatic Club in Lahore. He has been a guide, mentor and critic to many younger poets. His major work is considered his collection of poems Arrival of the Monsoon. He also translated the epic Puran Bhagat (1983) of Punjabi poet Bulleh Shah and Qadir Yar into lyrical English.