Nazia Kamran Kashif, Founder of “Pakistan’s Bloggers, Writers, Readers, and Poets” (PBWRP) talks to KARVAN in this exclusive interview.
1. Tell us about yourself?
Assalamoalaikum. I am Nazia Kamran Kashif, I am a work-from-home mother. I run an online bookstore Book Bee and I am also the Founder of “Pakistan’s Bloggers, Writers, Readers, and Poets.”
2. How did the concept of the Facebook group “Pakistan’s Bloggers, Writers, Readers, and Poets” come into existence?
As I mentioned above that I run an online bookstore Book Bee and I have a huge community of readers and writers. We have 68,000 members on our page and I used to get messages from the aspiring writers that they want to promote their writings on my page and they want their work to get published. As it was a book selling page so it was not possible for me to share their content. Therefore, I thought of creating a platform where writers can share their work and connect with the like-minded people. So, “Pakistan’s Bloggers Writers, Readers and Poet” came into being.
3. Tell us more about “Pakistan’s Bloggers, Writers, Readers, and Poets”?
It is a group for new writers where they can share their work. We have designed different segments to enhance their writing skills and every segment has an attached giveaway to encourage them to participate. We select weekly and monthly winners and send gifts through Book Bee. Some of the famous segments are “Quote Notion”, “Human Library”, “Prompt Friday”, “Shair-Goi”, “Prose Writings”, “Travelogues”, “History Mystery”, “Amazing World”, “Workplace Tips” and “Vocabulary Freak”.
4. What events have you organized so far?
We arranged “PBWRP LITERARY FIESTA” on July 22, 2018. We selected the participants from our group (Weekly and monthly winners) There were two segments. One was of Prose Reading while the other was of Poetry. 23 participants took part while popular writers and poets were invited as the judges who selected three winners for both segments. Over 300 people attended the event. Organizing this event was a huge achievement for me.
5. Who are the team members of your group?
Admin team: Nazia Kamran Kashif, Kamran Kashif, Nazia Ghous.
Segment heads: Javeria Abbasi, Qandeel Alam, Muhammad Saad Chaudhry, Komal Shahab and Fatima Ahmad.vWe run different segments and arranged the event for the first time.
6. What initiatives do you think must be taken to promote Pakistan’s aspiring writers and poets?
I think there should be local publications for our own writers as such writers do not get any guidance or knowledge of how to have their work published. We should arrange book launching ceremonies for our young writers too.
7. What is your mission in life? What are your greatest achievements in life?
My mission is to launch a magazine where only new writers can share their work. My greatest achievement is that I have persuaded people to become readers. When I had started Book Bee, people were discouraging me that there are no readers now and people don’t buy books. However, I kept following my dream and achieved success.
8. Your message to the youth of Pakistan?
Keep trying. People will discourage you but take it as a challenge and keep trying. For me, discouragement is another step towards motivation. Dream big no matter what, put all your efforts and wait for the Karma. Success will be there, Insha Allah.
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