Adil Mansuri

Adil Mansuri (1936–2008) was an Indian modernist poet, calligrapher, painter and playwright, born in Ahmedabad on 18 May 1936 as Farid Mohammad. He spoke Gujarati at home and was educated in Arabic and Urdu; after Partition his family moved to Karachi, where he began writing Urdu ghazals and learning calligraphy, returning to Ahmedabad in 1955. He became a leading modernist who experimented with form and language together, writing ghazals in Gujarati, Hindi and Urdu, and is credited with developing the modern Gujarati ghazal. His Urdu collection *Hashr ki Subh Darakhshan Ho* carries his socio-political consciousness alongside Islamic tradition. He immigrated to New Jersey, USA, in 1985, where he continued to write, paint and practise calligraphy until his death on 6 November 2008. He received the Kalapi Award (1998) and the Vali Gujarati Award (2008).