“Slow Cooking by Syeda Errah possesses an unassuming, graceful beauty that tugs at you, pulling you in with each stanza’s slowly brewing angst, quietude and endless wait that stirs something deep inside you. – Usama Lali (Judge ARPA 2025)”
Category: Abida Rauf Poetry Award
Tributaries by Ayesha Owais – 2025 Abida Rauf Poetry Award Winner
“The winning entry Tributaries by Ayesha Owais is a poignant meditation on the body, its insatiable longing for touch, and its perceived insufficiencies. Penned in pared down language that’s elliptical yet precise, Ayesha’s sparse poem trickles down the page one spare stanza after another, leaving behind a trace of unmet yearnings, whispered laments and a quietly brewing anger threatening to surface. – Usama Lali (Judge ARPA 2025)”