Attiya Dawood

Attiya Dawood was born in Moledino Larik; a village in Naushero Feroze. Attiya was born to her father; Muhammad Dawood's third wife Arbab Khatoon. Attiya's father, Muhammad Dawood Larik was a Hafiz and a poet who ran away from home to become a school teacher. He died at the age of 60 in 1965 when Attiya was 6 years old. During the 1970's, Attiya's family moved to Karachi where she took admission in a college. During this time, she struggled a lot, socially and financially and had to work in a towel factory to bear the expenses.[4] She started writing poetry when she was introduced to Ahmed Saleem by her friend Rupa. From there, she became a member of Sindhi Adabi Sangat. Since the 1980's she has been writing poetry regularly.[3][2]

Attiya published her first poem when she was in 8th grade. Attiya Dawood, originally Attiya Larik, changed her name to Dawood in the early 70's when she published her first poem in a Sindhi-language newspaper. Attiya had received a negative feedback from her family, particularly her brothers over publishing a poem. In retaliation, She decided to change the title Larik, as it was her brother's name and decided to switch to Dawood, which was her father's name.[3]

Attiya holds an M.A in Sindhi Literature.

Attiya Dawood is married to Khuda Baksh Abro, a well known artist and designer who graduated from National College of Arts, Lahore.[5]She has two daughters with him.

Attiya's poetry career began in the 1980's, when she started contributing to a local magazine. In 1995, Attiya published her first collection of poetry titled "Raging to be free", which were English translations of her works in Sindhi. Since, then she has written a small volume of poetry that is acknowledged by many writers and poets. Amrita Pritam, an Indian novelist had said of her “Attiya is a real poet. I would like to write her in Hindi and Punjabi.”

Attiya Dawood is known for her bold stance on women's rights. She is known as a feminist writer and poet. Her poetry and writings challenge the society and contains verses that support her opinions on women and their rights. In a literary sitting in Larkana, Attiya said: “I am proud to be a feminist poet but I am afraid male-dominated society interprets it wrongly.” She mentioned that male critics often found negativity in her work but the criticism will not stop her from her objectives.[7]

Attiya participated in the NGO segment of a Conference in Beijing, as one of the representatives of ASR Resource Centre, a Lahore based NGO. The NGOs consisted of 130 workshops, each one on a separate topic.