We are proud to welcome Botanists to our list of authors. Qissa has seen and been an avenue which promoted a fair share of fiction writers over the years. We are very grateful for the way Qissa has grown. When we started Daastan, our dream was to propagate education and simplify the process of sharing knowledge with people. One thing which we really looked forward to on Qissa was academic writing because it helps readers explore whichever subject they wish to learn.
The book contains detailed morphological descriptions of the herbs and flora of the area of Lahore. It provides vital information about a plethora of herbal species. The book was specially aimed to help Botanists and ‘Hakims’(Homeopaths) of the region broaden their medicinal plant base and as a result, acquire thorough knowledge.
About The Authors
The authors include Ms. Mehwish Jaffer, a PhD Scholar author of Six International and national scientific papers. Her co-author is Ms. Shabnum Shaheen, who have alsopublished Six International monographs and books, 68 research publications, and has won a gold medal in an international conference of Botany.
Choose Qissa Today
To sum it up, Qissa is honored to be chosen as your platform for publishing. We hope that such intellectuals and distinguished individuals will keep making Daastan their first choice for any publishing related services they might require. Extend your knowledge forward to the community and join us today by signing up with Qissa!
Book cover, A Practical Guide To Herbaceous Flora of District Lahore, Punjab
Qissa has worked hard to bring together people from all walks of life. If there lives inside you a storyteller who has the ability and creativity you will find your way to art. Literature enables people to truly be themselves, and sometimes, even more– despite any prosecution or judgement from the world.
What is the purpose of Qissa
It was our ambition to empower the artist that lives within you. We wanted to give people the motivation to spin words into tales, without having to worry about any of the procedure that follows. And we knew we were on the right track when, despite rejection and demotivating factors we received an overwhelming response. From your support, love, and eagerness to be a part of our platform, we collected our strength to expand our operations.
About Qissa’s Author
Qissa gained popularity and as a result, we started receiving the attention of highly qualified people from many different fields. One of the authors who joined us, Ms. Hafsa, was a geneticist. She believed in finding a fix to problems no matter how deep she needed to dive in. Her book “Hossana”, is a collection of poems with illustrations, which was crowdfunded and brought to print. Different languages and genres are featured in it. The book is divided into 3 sections. The first one raises questions that go bone deep and rattle one’s perceptions about life. The second part provides answers, helping us reconcile with reality. The last is titled ‘messages’, connecting us irreversibly with the author who takes us along this journey of thoughts and knowledge.
We are proud to assist such talented writers who are struggling to contribute to the publishing industry of Pakistan. It gives us immense joy to see our literary society growing. Sign up with us at Daastan if you are that author who wishes to get published. Let us grow together!
After diving headfirst into the Olympiad culture and sponsoring numerous talent hunting competitions in the span of just a few months, Daastan started attracting the attention of the big names in the community and getting invited not just to help groom the talent, but also share our experience and inspire those who might want to walk down the same path. And so, with this, we zeroed in on providing sponsorship, technical and media related support, and marketing to the literature exclusive festivals and happenings across Pakistan. The team would then help those interested find their way to their first self-published works through Qissa, empowering them to monetize their hobby and – if they chose so – to make a career out of it.
A Seminar on Feminism:
The first of such events was a seminar titled “Feminism in Language, Literature and Marketplace”, organized on Women’s Day, where Daastan’s founder, Mr. Syed Ommer Ammer, was invited as a guest speaker. Ommer shared the success stories of Ms. Laiba Sehrish Nawaz – the youngest published author of Peshawar, Ms. Lareb Soomro – the youngest published author or Sindh and Ms. Faiza Kayani a police commando who defied all odds to chase her dream and published her first book through Qissa. He also spoke about how Daastan was enabling women voice their opinions through their stories, and also gain financial independence by training them to generate revenue from their writings and connecting them to resources which can help them do so.
NUST and LUMS Literary Fests:
Just a couple weeks after that, we sponsored not only the National Literary Festival by NUST in Islamabad, but also one of the biggest campus based literary festivals in all of Pakistan, i.e. the LUMS Literary Festival 2018. Through Daastan, the literary festivals received judges to adjudicate all their competitions, discounts on all books published on Qissa, the chance to talk to our team and learn more about utilizing digital tools to help them carve their out their niche in the industry. Not only this, the winners of the LUMS Literary Festival received wild card entries to the finalists of the on-going season of ‘The Stories Untold’, through which the authors would all go into print for free through Daastan.
Founder Daastan, Mr. Syed Ommer Amer speaking to the crowd at LUMS Literary Fest
If you want us to sponsor you event, or provide support, send us an email at merasawal@daastan.com.
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Daastan may have started small, but in no way was it destined to remain that way as the years rolled by. When the team started out, one of their primary missions was to help train raw talent from across the whole country and maybe even beyond, and enable them in setting up their literary ventures through the Qissa portal – or help them polish their skills to perfection, making them industry-fit and ready for hiring. We at Daastan, have always felt it as one of our responsibilities to reach out and give opportunities to anyone who has even a smidge of talent, along with a ton of passion.
Sponsoring the EME Olympiad:
It was to uphold this very ideal that Daastan jumped forward at the mention of giving support to the first competition which reached out to them i.e. the EME Olympiad. A delegation from team Daastan consisting of Ms. Sidra Amin, Co-Founder, and Ms. Mahnoor Naseer, Editor-In-Chief were invited to judge the Speed Writing as well as the Poetry Slam competition. The two exceptionally talented ladies were honored to have been given the opportunity to witness such exceptional work by some of the participants. The delegation also consisted of Ms. Syeda Aleena Bukhari, a Literary Fellow graduate and a part of Urdu Editorial Board at Daastan, who was there to judge and score the participants enrolled in Urdu based literary competitions. Daastan provided a sponsorship of almost 50,000 PKR to EME Olympiad, along with social media support.
Daastan joins hands with EME Olympiad
PIEAS National Olympiad x Daastan:
A month later, we had the opportunity to collaborate with and provide funding to the PIEAS National Olympiad. One of the biggest Olympiads being held in the twin cities, with participation from more than 30 Universities from all over Pakistan. The team of Daastan saw more than 800 participants competiting each other and showcasing their skills. Their literary modules were judged by a delegation of Daastan, consisting of Ms. Areesh Fatmee, Director PR Daastan, Ms. Syeda Aleena Bukhari, Urdu Editor Daastan, and Ms. Aaina Batool, published author at Qissa. Daastan also offered print publishing to the winners, along with marketing on social media to provide additional support to the event.
Ms. Syeda Aleena Bukhari (left) and Ms. Aaina Batool with Team PiON.
The IST Youth Carnival:
In the same week as the PIEAS National Olympiad, Daastan also collaborated with the IST Youth Carnival. Our published author Ms. Iqra Saeed set up a stall there and spread awareness on the literary industry and self-publishing scenario in Pakistan, and Daastan also provided judges to adjudicate the short story competition.
Daastan’s stall set up by Ms. Iqra Saeed at IST Youth Carnival
If you are organizing an Olympiad or Carnival at your University and require sponsorship, drop us an email at merasawal@daastan.com.
Exactly a month after the chain of events, titled “Literary Evenings” by Words and Metaphors, was kick started in the city of Peshawar, the team of Daastan traveled all the way to Karachi to hold the second one in its succession. The first event had turned out to be a huge hit, with a crowd turnout that amazed even the most hopeful among us. The poetry and performances we got to see in the event were of such good quality that weeks after the audience would find themselves thinking about the cozy environment in which all of the literary geeks felt connected as if they were a family.
The Event:
Literary Evenings Volume Two was split into two events held at separate venues so as to celebrate each one according to its needs. The first event was the book launch of Daastan’s youngest published writer from Sindh, Lareb Soomro. The 15-year-old girl from Larkana wrote her very first novel “The Secret of Spring”, and finding no avenue to bring her work to the public, turned to what would become her enabling family – Daastan. Within a few months of her sharing her novel with the team, it was proofread, edited to its best version, and then sent to print. It was such a pleasure for Daastan to have empowered such a young but a creative and budding mind. Lareb’s book launch was held in Nizamani Labour Hall where students from different colleges, writers and people with an appreciation of literature graced the event. Her launch received extensive media coverage. The news report of the event and her interviews were featured on Samaa news, Sach Tv, as well as local Sindhi news channels like Awaz.
Group photo featuring DAWN TV reporter (left), Mr. Khursheed Ahmed – a proud father, Ms. Mukhtar Soomro – a happy aunt, Ms. Lareb Soomro – Sindh’s Youngest published author and her uncle Mr. Ameen (right).
Open Mic:
The second occasion of the volume two of Literary evenings was an open mic session which took place in Pakistan Chowk Community Center. The Open Mic was themed, and people from all walks of life came together to share their works and lift the stigma from society’s notion regarding “Abuse”. Over the course of the evening, with so many hearts opening up to individuals who had gone through more or less the same experiences as them, the air grew somber but bittersweet in the knowledge that they were not alone.
Mr. Ahmed was a participant of the Open Mic Session held under Literary Evenings Vol II
