Making women's publishing histories visible
Latest Highlights
Telling Her Story: Women in Print from the 1960s Onwards – News & Events
“Are You Serious Mr. President?” – SHE Magazine excerpt
Editing Women in the Archives – Digital Handbook
Publications
The publications featured in this archive represent women-edited literary, cultural, art, and lifestyle magazines produced in Pakistan from the 1960s to the present. These publications document feminist thought, creative expression, and social commentary, much of which is at risk of being lost, and remains absent from formal archives.
NuktaArt
An English-language art, design, and culture journal, NuktaArt played a vital role in shaping contemporary art discourse in Pakistan. Its experimental design and critical essays expanded how art was discussed and understood.
Paper Magazine
Edited by Meher Tareen and Samina Khan, Paper Magazine addressed pop culture, social issues, and women’s rights during a politically tense period. The magazine is remembered for its fearless editorial stance and women-led production team.
SHE: Journal for the Home
SHE was one of Pakistan’s longest-running English-language women’s magazines, combining literature, art, and lifestyle writing. Edited and produced by women, it served as a critical platform for feminist thought and creative expression across six decades.
Simorgh Publications
Simorgh Women’s Resource and Publications Centre, founded in 1985, is a non-governmental, non-profit, feminist activist organisation. It was created in response to General Zia’s military rule and to the promulgation of retrogressive and discriminatory legislation that is active to this day in Pakistan.
About EWA Editing Women in the Archives
Editing Women in the Archives is a collaborative research initiative that emerged from archival fieldwork conducted in Karachi and Lahore in 2024. The project focuses on documenting women-edited publications that are endangered due to limited institutional support, lack of preservation infrastructure, and fragmented archival practices. EWA aims to make these materials visible and accessible while encouraging future archival efforts, research, and community engagement.
“Archives are not neutral — what we preserve shapes how histories are remembered.”
About EWA
This Editing Women in the Archives website emerged from archival fieldwork conducted in Karachi and Lahore in 2024. It is an outcome of the PAWPE-TU Editing Women in the Archives impact project.
News & Events
Something Entirely Dependent on One Person…
Panel event at the Karachi Literature Festival 2026 launching the EWA Handbook and sharing reflections on the value of archival projects.
Telling Her Story: Women in Print from the 1960s Onwards
Panel event at the Karachi Literature Festival 2026 launching the EWA Handbook and sharing reflections on the value of archival projects.
Telling Our Stories – Literary Currents at ThinkFest 2026
Ayza Khan explores the undercurrents of literary and cultural resistance at the ninth iteration of Afkar-e-Taza ThinkFest held in Lahore.
Feast for the Eyes, Nourishment for the Soul
Mehvash Amin, Editor in Chief of The Aleph Review and project co-lead, talks about the experience of attending Karachi Biennale KB24 and participating in the EWA project workshop there.
Resources
A curated collection of materials that support research, discovery, and deeper engagement. From publications and references to external sources, these resources extend the archive beyond its entries—offering pathways for continued exploration and understanding.
The Editing Women in the Archives website and digital archive is an outcome of a collaborative research initiative between the Pakistan Association of Women Publishers and Editors (PAWPE) and Teesside University, UK.
This collaboration brings together local knowledge, feminist publishing networks, and academic research support to document, preserve, and make visible women-edited publications in Pakistan. Through shared expertise, mentorship, and institutional support, the project seeks to strengthen archival practices and foster future research, engagement, and sustainability within women-led publishing initiatives.