Pakistan Academy of Letters

• Status — A national academy in Pakistan funded by the Government of Pakistan • Purpose — Publication of literary and related works, promotion of authorship and literary exchanges • Headquarters — PAL Secretariat • Language — English and Urdu • Leader Title — Chairperson • Leader Name — Najeeba Arif • Main Organ — Pakistan Academy of Letters, Islamabad, and The Board of Governors • Affiliations — A Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage (Pakistan) organisation • Name — Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) • Abbreviation — PAL • Location — Islamabad • Region Served — Worldwide

After its founding in 1976, Pakistan Academy of Letters remains a government-sponsored institution. It works under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage (Pakistan). The poet Ahmed Faraz was appointed its first director. It is an autonomous non-profit organisation, supervised by its own board of governors, receiving support from the Government of Pakistan as the apex national institution. The academy maintains several regional offices, and links with other national and international organizations of a similar status. Its agenda includes promotion of literary education, publication and documentation. with a view to promoting and fostering Pakistani literature, literary activities in Pakistan, and systematizing the support mechanism to writers and scholars of Urdu, Punjabi, Saraiki, Sindhi, Pushto, Balochi, English and other Pakistani languages.

In 1978, Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi became the first chairman of its Founding Fellows, among whom were prominent 'men of letters' representing different languages of Pakistan: • Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi (history) (first chairman) • A. K. Brohi (philosophy) • Hafeez Jalandhari (Urdu language) • Syed Abdullah (Urdu language) • Ehsan Danish (Urdu language) • Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi (Urdu language) • Sharif Kunjahi (Punjabi language) • Nabi Bakhsh Khan Baloch (Sindhi language) • Syed Rasool Rasa (Pashto language) • Sardar Khan Gashkori (Balochi language) • Professor Ahmed Ali (writer) (English language)

• Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi (first chairman) • Ashfaq Ahmed • Abul Khair Kashfi • Pareshan Khattak • Syed Mujtaba Hussain • Two representatives from the Ministry of Education • One representative from the Universities Grants Commission (now the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan) Pakistan Academy of Letters was established in 1976 but its board of governors were not officially appointed by the Government of Pakistan until 1978, when its objectives and functions were also determined.

In 2020, Pakistan Academy of Letters inaugurated 'Faiz Ahmed Faiz Auditorium' on Faiz Ahmad Faiz's birthday with the poet's daughters Muneeza Hashmi, Salima Hashmi and noted litterateur Iftikhar Arif in attendance. Federal Minister of Education Shafqat Mahmood also spoke on the occasion. In 2020, the academy recognized works like Waqar mustafa's short story collection Ek Tamasha (ISBN 978-969-23120-4-2) for its contribution to contemporary Urdu fiction