Gujarati Ghazal was first introduced in the UK in the sixties by the poets of the Gujarati Writers Guild (GWG) – UK. MahekTankarvi and KadamTankarvi, accomplished poets and the founder members of the Guild. They played an important role in popularising Gujarati Ghazal by regularly holding Mushairas( poetry reading public events). Not only the Guild organisedMushairas, they conducted workshops and poetry writing competitions to involve the younger generation. Through their efforts they have managed to preserve and promote Gujarati language, literature and
culture in the UK. The Gujarati Writers Guild- UK was inspired by ShekhadamAbuwala, and came into existence in 1973 .Its core purpose was to bring Gujarati Writers and poets together, through Ghazal writing, poetry recitation and preserve their culture through language. The Guild has hosted and participated in more than 100 Mushairas across the country. However, it should be noted that the first Gujarati Mushaira was held in the later part of 1967 in what was then known as the Spinners Hall on St Georges Road, Bolton, in the presence of the visiting well known Gujarati Hazalkar (humorous poet and satirist) ‘Bekar’ Randeri. Later on many poets and supporters joined the Guild, including, NahidRanderi, PremiDayadarvi, Babar Bambusari, JigarNabipuri, SagarManubari, Maun Jangarvi, PathikSitponvi,
GulAlipori, MajboorKukaliya, ShardaDabhi, KhenSurti, Balwant Sharma, HarunKhothiwala, Abdul Aziz Zumla, Late MullaManmoji, ShabbirKaji, MassomKarolia, SevakAlipori, Late Hasan Gora Dhabheli, IslmailDaji, and of course Siraj Patel Paguthanvi who took the Guild on a different height of many more successes. One of the most successful feature of the
Gujarati Writers Guild-UK is to work in partnership with Urdu, Hindi and English poets. This fusion of Gujarati/Hindi/Urdu and English poetry has provided delight to the poetry lovers who love poetry in different languages and also they feel connected with their heritage