Noshi Gillani to Participate in Sydney Urdu Moot

As a part of its Urdu Festival 2007, the Urdu Society of Australia is organizing a series of events in October-November to promote the Urdu language and culture. A three-day International Urdu conference, including a mushaira is scheduled to be held from 19-21 October 2007 in Sydney.
A series of mushairas across Australia are also a part of the festival. Other events include a book fair to promote works of local and guest writers, book launches and a ghazal evening. The conference venue is Sydney 's famous Olympic Park.
The main agenda of the Urdu Conference is based on two themes:
1. The role of poetry and literature in promoting peace, understanding and democracy
2. The development of Urdu language, culture and literature in the West.
The conference committee consists of representatives from North America, Europe, and Middle East and is headed by Urdu Society of Australia's Vice President Saeed Khan.
The committee members include: Dr Shabbir Haider (President Urdu Society of Australia), Rehan Alvi (Sydney), Shamim Zaidi (Melbourne), Professor Samina Yasmeen (Perth), Ashraf Shad (UAE, Middle East/Pakistan), Ashfaq Hussain (Toronto), Iftikhar Nasim (Chicago) and Safdar Hamdani (London).
So far guest poets/writers who have confirmed their participation are: Ahmad Faraz ( Pakistan), Noshi Gillani (US) and Safdar Hamdani (UK).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------