Identity: Meena Naaz was a popular Urdu novelist of mass readership who made domestic life and women’s psychology the central themes of his fiction.

Meena Naaz’s real name was Ameen Nawaz. In the beginning he worked as a tailor by profession. Because he stitched women’s clothes, he had the opportunity to closely observe domestic life, relationships among women, and their emotional and psychological issues. These very observations later became the foundation of his writings.

In 1963 he wrote his first novel, Parbat (“The Mountain”). At that time female novelists were more popular, so the publisher refused to print the novel under a male name. Using his childhood nickname “Meena”, he adopted the pen name “Meena Naaz”. The novel was published under this name and received great acclaim.

In 1965 he went to Karachi to try his luck, where his novels were eagerly received and he became an established name in popular fiction. After writing more than a hundred novels, he realised that publishers were keeping most of the profit. Therefore, in 1978 he returned to Lahore and set up his own publishing house, “Book Palace”, on Ganpat Road and started publishing his books himself.

The plots of his stories were often based on real letters and incidents sent to him by female readers. Interestingly, many male readers assumed he was actually a woman and sent him love letters and gifts, but he never revealed his true identity.

The 1980s were his golden period, when his novels were visible at almost every bookstall. After 1990, inflation and changing circumstances badly affected the publishing business. In 2005, due to age and personal tragedies (especially the death of his elder son), he closed Book Palace.

Meena Naaz is counted among those unique and prolific Urdu writers who brought the psychology, domestic struggles, and emotional world of Pakistani women directly into popular literature.

Death: He passed away in Lahore on 1 January 2025.