The Gurmani Centre for Languages and Literature (GCLL) was established in 2010 as a unique platform for promoting and celebrating all forms of culture that represent the people of Pakistan in particular, and of South Asia in general. Holding the vernaculars very close to its heart, the center has made great progress over the past decade to reestablish several severed links with a number of tangible and intangible fields languages cultivate. From poetry and prose, drama, music and dance to calligraphy, paintings and photography, the center has appreciated and showcased almost every art form. The credit for these achievements goes to the center’s former directors and co-directors that include Yasmeen Hameed, Ghulam Moeenuddin Nizami, Kamran Asdar Ali and Bilal Tanweer—and the competent team members who have all added brilliance to its luster in their own unique ways.
Ali Usman Qasmi
Director (2024–Present)
I am honoured to serve as the Director of the Gurmani Center for Languages and Literature. Over the past decade, thanks to the collective efforts of my colleagues, we have laid a strong institutional foundation at the Center to develop a more rigorous program in Pakistani languages and literature. This growth aligns with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences' strategic vision, emphasising cultural and heritage studies.
As Director, I am eager to harness the Gurmani Center's resources to spotlight the works of emerging artists, poets, and scholars. Whether working in multiple mediums or different languages, these individuals are crucial in shaping the intellectual and aesthetic sensibilities of our postcolonial context and addressing the many crises we face. It is my hope that the Center will continue to serve as a platform for these creative voices, enriching the cultural and academic life of our community.
Meet Our Team
Language Pedagogy Coordinator
Writer in Residence
In-house Calligrapher
Assistant Manager
Editorial Assistant (Bunyad)
GCLL Directors
Yasmeen Hameed (2010-2016)
Yasmeen Hameed has over thirty years of experience in the fields of education, literature and art. She was the Director of the Gurmani Centre for South Asian Languages and Literature from 2010 to 2016.
Yasmeen Hameed has authored five books of poetry in Urdu. These are Pas-e Ᾱ’īnā (1988), Hisār-e Bē Dar-o-Dīvār (1991), Ādẖā Din Aur Ᾱdẖī Rāt (1996), Fanā Bẖī Ēk Sarāb (2001) and Bē Samar Pēṛoṅ Kī Kvāhish (2012). The first four books were collectively published under the title Dūsrī Zindagī in 2007. A selection of her poetry titled Hum Do Zamānon Mēn Paidā Hūē was published in 2018. Her book, Pakistani Urdu Verse was published by Oxford University Press in 2010. She has edited and translated this anthology of the Urdu nazm, introducing sixty-three Urdu poets of the post-Iqbal period. She has compiled and edited Daybreak: Writings on Faiz published by Oxford University Press in 2013. She has also compiled and edited Nayā Urdu Afsānā published by Sang-e Meel Publications in 2014.
Her poem was published in translation in Granta, 112 Pakistan from London, UK and five of her poems in translation are included in an anthology called Modern Poetry of Pakistan, published by Dalkey Archive Press, Champaign and London, USA. Her poems in translation were also published in Atlanta Review: Pakistan, Spring and Summer 2014. Fourteen of her poems with English translation were published in Three Contemporary Artists by Iffat Sayeed, published in 2019 by the University of Punjab, Lahore.
She was Guest Editor of Pakistani Literature (English), published by the Pakistan Academy of Letters, Islamabad and has edited seven volumes of the journal, including two volumes (590 pages) of a special issue on women writers from Pakistan. She was co-editor of Bunyād, research journal of Gurmani Centre at LUMS, She has extensively translated Urdu poetry into English. She has contributed to the column called Poetic Justice of the Books & Authors section of the daily Dawn, through which she introduced and translated forty two contemporary Urdu poets. She has also hosted music and literary programmes for Pakistan Television.
Moeen Nizami (2016-2019)
Professor Dr. Moeen Nizami is a distinguished academic, researcher, poet, writer, and translator. He has authored numerous academic monographs, research articles, and poetry collections. Dr. Nizami's scholarly interests span Persian, Urdu, and Punjabi poetry and literature, as well as Islamic studies, history, mysticism, Rumi, Iqbal, and calligraphy. His illustrious career includes serving in several leadership roles at Punjab University, including Principal of Oriental College, Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Chairperson of the Persian Department, and Director of the Institute of Languages.
Bilal Tanweer (2019-2022)
Bilal Tanweer is a writer and translator. His debut novel, The Scatter Here Is Too Great, was published in five territories (Random House - India, HarperCollins - United States, Jonathan Cape - UK, Editions Stock - France, Carl Hanser Verlag - Germany), and was translated into French and German. The novel was awarded the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize and was a finalist for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and the Chautauqua Prize. It garnered positive reviews in publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, and Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
Tanweer's translation of Muhammad Khalid Akhtar's collection of novellas and stories was published in 2016 as Love in Chakiwara and Other Misadventures. This translation was one of the eleven recipients of the American PEN Translation Fund Grant.
Bilal Tanweer is the founder of the LUMS Young Writers Workshop. This fully-funded, five-day summer workshop has played a vital role in nurturing and inspiring the next generation of writers in Pakistan, providing them with the resources and support to pursue their creative aspirations. The workshop offers young writers mentorship, space to experiment, and a community for their writing. Over the years, the workshop has seen remarkable success stories, including a recipient of the Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University, several writers admitted to fully-funded MFA programs, with some whose works have been published in magazines such as The New Yorker.
Bilal Tanweer’s distinguished fellowships include the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, and the University of Iowa's International Writers Program. In 2023, he served as the Chair of Jury for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
Recently, he worked with Pauline Fan, a writer, literary translator and cultural researcher from Malaysia on a year-long project for Commonwealth Foundation to curate and edit literary works from across South and Southeast Asia for addastories.com.
Dr. Nadhra Naeem Khan (2022-2024)
Dr Nadhra Shahbaz Khan is Associate Professor of art and architectural history and serves as the Director Gurmani Centre for Languages and Literature. A specialist in the history of art and architecture of the Punjab from the sixteenth to the early twentieth century, her research covers the visual and material culture of this region during the Mughal, Sikh, and colonial periods. Her publications in international peer reviewed journals, conference papers and other research activities, especially her book titled Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Samādhi in Lahore: A Summation of Sikh Architectural and Decorative Practices and a website (https://www.sikhvirsa.org.pk/home/) that features Sikh artefacts in the Lahore Fort’s Sikh Gallery, have successfully brought Sikh art and architecture at the forefront of Pakistan’s heritage discussions and conservation activities. This website has received the Times Higher Education Awards Asia 2022 for “Excellence and Innovation in the Arts”.
Nadhra Khan has held research fellowships at SOAS, London (Charles Wallace 2010–2011), INHA Paris (2015), Princeton University (Fulbright 2014–2015), Oxford University (Barakat Trust 2014–2015) Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute, Harvard (2021-2022), and the Institute for Advanced Study in Asian Cultures & Theologies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2023). She has also been a recipient of the highly competitive CAA-Getty International Program travel grants thrice: 2012, 2019 & 2021, the MGSHSS LUMS Annual Research Award 2019, the LUMS Faculty Initiative Funds for 2020 and 2021 and Faculty Travel Grants. Her association with the Aga Khan Cultural Service–Pakistan for their Lahore Fort project as Consultant Historian continues since 2016.
Ali Usman Qasmi (2024-Present)
Born and raised in Lahore, Ali Usman Qasmi is a historian of modern South Asia and Islamic reform movements. He has published extensively in his area of expertise, including three monographs and three edited volumes. His most recent monograph is Qaum, Mulk, Sultanat: Citizenship and National Belonging in Pakistan (Stanford University Press, 2023), which won the American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) Book Prize for 2024. Since 2012, Qasmi has taught history at LUMS’ School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Currently, Qasmi also serves as the Director of the Gurmani Center for Languages and Literature.