Amrita Pritam: where to start

2026-09-01 · 6 min read · Kitab Hut, Moosa

Start Amrita Pritam with the poem Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu, then the novel Pinjar, then her memoir Rasidi Ticket. She was the first woman to receive the Sahitya Akademi Award, in 1956, and won the Jnanpith Award in 1981.

She wrote the one poem that everybody in both Punjabs can quote. Ajj aakhaan Waris Shah nu — today I call on Waris Shah — addresses the poet of Heer directly and asks him to speak again, because a million daughters are weeping and the Chenab is full of blood. It was written in 1948, about Partition, and it has never stopped being read.

Start with that poem, then Pinjar

Pinjar — the skeleton — is her 1950 novel. Puro is abducted by a Muslim man before Partition; when the border falls and her family can finally reclaim her, she chooses not to go. It is short, and it refuses every easy ending available to it.

Then Rasidi Ticket

Her autobiography, titled after a jibe that her life story would fit on the back of a revenue stamp. She wrote it anyway, and it is the frankest thing in mid-century Punjabi letters about being a woman, a writer, and in love with someone you are not married to.

Then the poems, and Imroz

Sunehade won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1956 — the first time a woman received it. Kagaz Te Canvas won the Jnanpith in 1981. Read the books about her life with Imroz afterwards, not before; they make much more sense once you know the work.

Punjabi literature shelf — Novels, poetry and memoir across 867 titles.

Questions readers ask

What is Amrita Pritam most famous for?

The Partition poem Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu, written in 1948, and the novel Pinjar. She was the leading woman writer in twentieth-century Punjabi literature.

What awards did Amrita Pritam win?

She was the first woman to receive the Sahitya Akademi Award, in 1956 for Sunehade, and she won the Jnanpith Award in 1981 for Kagaz Te Canvas.

Is Pinjar available in Punjabi?

Yes. Pinjar was written in Punjabi and is widely available in Gurmukhi, as well as in Hindi and English translation.