Authors

Altaf Baloch (also spelled Eltap Baloch) was born on 4 April 1977 in Bit Buleda village, Kech District, Balochistan, Pakistan. He received his primary education at the public school in his village and took his intermediate exam at Degree College Turbat (now called Atta Shad Degree College) in 1993.

Abdolhakim Baloch (also spelled, e.g., Abdulhakim Baluch), better known as Hakim Baloch, was born on 25 December 1942 in Panjgur, Balochistan. Hakim Baloch passed his matriculation exam at the Government High School, Panjgur, in 1957, after which he continued his studies at Punjab University and Karachi University. His subjects of study were English literature and political science, and he completed his MA in 1966. (45)

Nasim Dashti (also spelled Naseem Dashti) is the pen name of Alam Shah, born on 14 October 1938 in Koddan, Dasht, Balochistan. He got his primary education in his native village Koddan and finished his secondary education in High School Turbat in 1961. He then went on to study at the Inter College Mastung, Balochistan and S. M. Arts College, Karachi, where he got his BA in 1966. Then he started working as a teacher and during this time he continued his studies and acquired a B.Ed., and an M.Ed. degree. In 1972 he also acquired an MA degree in Urdu literature from Punjab University, Lahore. Later on he worked as a headmaster in various schools and as an Education Officer in Makran, Balochistan, until his retirement. He passed away on 8 January 1996.

Naimatullah Gichki (also spelled Niamatullah or Nematullah Gichki) was born on 18 April 1942 in Sordo, Panjgur, Balochistan. (62) After his matriculation exam in Panjgur in 1958, he continued his studies in Quetta and Karachi, earning his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree in 1967. He then began work as a medical doctor in Panjgur. Later he travelled to the USA and Germany for further education and earned MA degrees in medicine in both these countries.

Sayad Hashmi, also known as Sayad Zahur Shah Hashmi (and spelled in various similar ways such as Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi or Hashomi), was born on 21 April 1926 in Gwadar, Balochistan.(73) He received his primary education from the Saeedia School in Gwadar,(74) but there is only scanty information about later studies and employment. Sayad passed away on 4 March 1978.(75)

Gohar Malik (also spelled Gawhar Malek) was born on 26 August 1938 in Panjgur, Balochistan. She was the eldest daughter of the famous Baloch politician and poet Mir Gul Khan Nasir. (99) At the age of two she contracted polio and was left paralysed. Her family later moved from Panjgur to Nushki, where she grew up. In those days it was not yet possible for girls to pursue an education, but her father gave her the opportunity to study at home.

Ghani Parwaz (also spelled Gani Parwaz) was born on 15 August 1945 in Nezarabad, Kech District, Balochistan. He received his basic education in Nezarabad and holds a B.Ed. and two MA degrees, one in Urdu and one in Political Science. He also has a degree corresponding to an MA in Balochi. He has worked as a schoolteacher, headmaster, lecturer and professor of Political Science in Turbat. Now retired, he still lives in Turbat.

According to his national identity card, Murad Bakhsh, known as Murad Sahir (also spelled Morad Saher), was born in 1929, in Shay Sichi, Negwar, Kech District, Balochistan. (128) There is no record of the day and month of his birth, and even the year is uncertain. The place and date of his birth have been recorded differently in different documents, which is not uncommon among people of his generation. (129)

Sharaf Shad (also spelled Sharap Shad) was born in Ball Negwar, Dasht, Kech District, Balochistan, Pakistan, on 1 February 1979. He received his primary education at Government High School, Ball Negwar, and then took his matriculation exam at Degree College Turbat in 1999. He earned an MA in Balochi from Balochistan University in 2002, and an M.Phil. in Balochi in 2016 from the University of Balochistan, Turbat campus. He is a visiting teacher at Karachi University. (137) He also works as a host on a Balochi TV show on Vash TV, Karachi. (138)

Haneef Shareef (also spelled Hanif Sharif) was born in Karachi on 25 December 1976. (150) He completed his basic education in Turbat, Balochistan, and received a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree from Bolan Medical College, Quetta, in 2003.

Munir Ahmed Badini (also spelled, e.g., Muneer Ahmad Badini) was born in Shareef Khan village, Nushki District, Balochistan, Pakistan in 1953. After his early studies in the village school, he went to Quetta where he completed a BA in Sociology, Political Science and Philosophy at the Govt Degree College in Quetta. (160) He later earned an MA in Philosophy from Punjab University.

Introduction by Noroz Hayat and Carina Jahani

Introduction by Mehlab Nasir

Mohammad Younus, known as Younos Hussain, was born on 5 January 1969 in Gwadar, Balochistan, Pakistan. He passed his matriculation exam at Government High School Gwadar in 1985 and his intermediate exam at Urdu College, Karachi, in 1988. He is working as a laboratory technician at Civil Hospital, Gwadar, where he is in charge of the Thalassemia Centre.

Munir Momen (also spelled Monir Momin) was born on 12 October 1966 in Pidrak village, Kech District, Balochistan, Pakistan. He got his primary education from the Government school in Pasni, Gwadar District. He took his intermediate exam at Degree College Turbat in 1984, and earned his BA in psychology from Balochistan University, Quetta in 1986. He lives in Pasni, Gwadar District, Balochistan.

Nagoman Baloch, (also spelled Naguman Baloch), (223) was born on 5 April 1974 in Grempoki, Ball Negwar, a village west of Turbat, Balochistan, Pakistan. After getting his primary and secondary education in Ball Negwar and Turbat, he was admitted to Bolan Medical College in Quetta, where he received a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in 1998.

Introduction by Mehlab Naseer

Born on 16 January 1981 in Nezarabad, Kech District, Balochistan, Pakistan, Sajid Hussain received most of his education in Karachi. He held a BA in Economics but his main interest was literature, and in 2012 he completed his MA in Balochi and English at the University of Balochistan, Quetta.

Noroz Khan, better known by his pen name Noroz Hayat, was born on 1 February 1989 in Khairabad village, Kech District, Balochistan, Pakistan. He received a BA in Balochi, Sociology and Political Science from the Atta Shad Degree College in Turbat in 2010, and an MA in Social Work from the University of Karachi in 2013.

Habib Kadkhodaei, also known as Habibollah or Farzin Kadkhodaei, was born on 23 September 1992 in Bog, Kaserkand, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Islamic Azad University of Zahedan, which he was awarded in the spring of 2016.

Zar Jan Naseer, better known by her pen name Mehlab Naseer (also spelled Mehlab Nasir), was born on 18 December 1982 in Khairabad village, Kech District, Balochistan, Pakistan. She went to school in Gurhi village, after which her family moved to Turbat to enable her to continue her education. She received a BA in Sociology, History and Balochi from the the University of Balochistan, Quetta, in 2002, and an MA in English literature from the same university, in 2006. She then pursued a second MA at the University of Balochistan, this time in Balochi literature, which she completed in 2008.