becoming banoqvi

Shehrbano Naqvi was born in Karachi, Pakistan. She began writing as soon as she learnt how to read at the age of six, and has since used her craft as a tool to navigate the world around her. She graduated with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from John Cabot University (Rome, Italy) in 2018. It was during her five years in Rome that Naqvi was encouraged to share her prose and fiction short stories, beyond the private scribbles she held onto so dearly. This encouragement eventually pushed her into different literary spaces

where she would read her work to the public. 

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In 2018, Naqvi lost her older brother to suicide. His loss scrubbed away worldly reservations, and paled the enthusiasm she previously held for fiction writing. Her newfound clarity led her to find a companionship in poetry that helps expose her most honest, inner monologue yet. Despite never studying poetry, Naqvi found herself leaning towards that form of expression more than ever before, finding comfort in the

very elements that would intimidate her before.

One year after her brother's demise, banoqvi was birthed in the hopes of fulfilling her promises of living fully, fearlessly, and honestly, and in the hopes of empowering her words enough to

immortalize fleeting moments and relationships. 

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She has since then been published on numerous online forums as well as has performed at several poetry readings and events. While her Instagram page under the same name helps connect others to her writing virtually, she is currently working on a manuscript dedicated to the year that was spent healing after losing her brother. She has dabbled in teaching the art of writing as well as working as an editor on several local projects. In 2020, she was one of eight poets invited to the Karachi Literary Festival to perform her poetry on her most prestigious stage so far. While it has been turbulent journey here, she is certain that this is just the beginning. 

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