Read Pakistani Short Stories and Memoirs on Zeenat Haroon Rashid!

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Zeenat Haroon Rashid was a founding member of the Women's National Guard at the time of Pakistan's independence. The great lady was the epitome of women's empowerment. She struggled to promote the idea of gender equality in Pakistan throughout her life. She passed away in 2017, and in her honor, the Zeenat Haroon Rashid Writing Prize Competition took place each year.

In this competition, females, aged 18 or more, participate from all over Pakistan and share their stories in this writing competition. The winner of this competition won Rupees 1 Lac, and her writings are published in national newspapers.

The eligibility criteria for this writing competition are that your heritage should be of Pakistan, no matter where you live, and an age above 18. Only females can participate in it.

This competition has been started by Zeenat Haroon Rasheed's daughter, Syra Vahidy, whose main aim is to empower female writers in Pakistan. Her dream is to empower every female writer in her country so that they can flourish in their writing career without any obstacles.

Recently, their writing competition concluded and the winner of this year, Saira Mehmood, won the prize. The theme of this year was non-fiction where writers shared their perspectives and memoirs about womanliness and traumas they faced in their lives.

Saira Mehmood's memoir "A Pakistani Woman Comes of Age" is a compelling piece of writing in which she shares the journey of a girl to womanhood in this world of social media. There are emotions, and expressions every one of us can relate to. It also enhances the information of the readers about the Muslim women community on social media.

With this compelling memoir, five other shortlisted memoirs are also present on Zeenat Haroon Rasheed's website. These five also discuss different aspects of a female's life in the Pakistani context.

Soon, they will start sharing long-listed memoirs too on their website.

I always love to read these short stories as they reflect Pakistani women to which I can relate. These short stories reflect the talents of Pakistani women which make me awe. These short stories are full of different social and psychological issues which enhance our knowledge, and let us enjoy a quality piece of literature.

You can also read previous years' short stories too on their website. I will recommend you to read "Najma" too which is the winning story of 2021. I read it, re-read it and always fall in love with this story.

Amazingly, they start posting their short stories in the serene days of December. It allows me to enjoy these stories with my evening tea while enjoying the calm of winter and quality literature.

Do read their short stories and share your favorite ones in the comment section.