ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Consulate in Birmingham, the United Kingdom, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and the Iqbal Academy will host a joint celebration of the world’s two leading writers on November 9. It is for the first time that Iqbal’s birthday, a national annual holiday in Pakistan, has been feted at the Shakespeare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of Britain’s greatest poet. The music and poetry performance in the evening will bring together leading figures from both literary traditions and the wider community to promote inter-cultural appreciation and understanding, said a message received here Wednesday. The programme will feature some of Iqbal’s best-loved poetry performed in Urdu and English by a cast of children from Birmingham, including “Shikwa”, “Jawab-e-Shikwa” and his popular message to youth “Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua”, a child’s prayer which is frequently sung in schools in Pakistan and across Asia. Actors from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust will present complementary sonnets and extracts from Shakespeare’s cannon, and Iqbal’s poem in praise of Shakespeare. The Dhanak Music Group will bring live Sufi music inspired by Iqbal, featuring tabla, sitar, harmonium, flute, earthen pitcher and vocals. The Consul General of Pakistan in Birmingham, Syed Ahmed Maroof, said though they lived and wrote more than two centuries apart, Shakespeare and Iqbal both spoke to people around the world. He said their poetry related to human emotions transcended the national and cultural boundaries. “We are delighted and honoured that the birthday of Pakistan’s legendary poet philosopher, who bridged the cultural, intellectual and spiritual traditions of East and West, will be celebrated at the birthplace of Britain’s greatest poet,” he added. He said the special occasion would help us build stronger links and inter-cultural understanding between British and Pakistan communities here in the West Midlands and between the nations. The Chief Executive of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Dr Diana Owen, said that they were proud to be associated, through Shakespeare’s legacy, with the literary geniuses of other nations. “We are dedicated to the world wide promotion of Shakespeare’s work and our centre here in Stratford is a natural hub — a global cultural meeting place — to connect people through Shakespeare,” she said, adding that this collaboration with the Pakistan Consul and the Iqbal Academy would help them to start new conversations and forge new bonds of fellowship. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and the Pakistan Consulate, Birmingham will also announce a competition challenging young writers and artists to capture “The Landscape of My Youth” in poetry and paint. Elizabeth Dollimore, Outreach Manager at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said Shakespeare and Iqbal wrote memorably about the natural world around them and the lands of their birth. They hoped this competition would be a showcase for equally compelling images in words or pictures from the young people of today. “Entrants might take inspiration from the literary greats, or from a special, personal incident, scene or setting that has shaped their own life,” she added.