Benazir Mungloo : A self-proclaimed feminist turned writer taking up challenges and burgeoning in Australia

A young writer, Benazir Mungloo published her first work this year. A budding young writer, she unveils her story with the hope of inspiring other young people. Although she was criticized by many, she did not give up and conquered the world of literature with her poems.  

Benazir Mungloo started her career in writing as a columnist when she was 17. Currently, she is a Second year arts student at Monash university (Melbourne) doing double majors in literature and creative writing & media and communications. She always knitted the dreams of becoming a writer.  “I started writing at the age of 15.

I have tried everything that you can ever imagine concerning writing: blogging, novel writing, news articles, poetry, memoirs and essays. I went through trials and errors. I always wanted to write but I guess during those years, I never had a motive nor did I know what I wanted to write about,” she narrates.

At the age of 19, she found her motive and decided to focus on the theme of “Women.” She is a self-proclaimed feminist and her aim is to help women in pain. Her first book “Scarred and Healed” is a collection of poetry and prose dealing with themes such as emotional abuse, love loss, life blunders, femininity, life lessons and empowerment. Despite being ridiculed several times, she did not give up writing. She was referred to as a fake Shakespeare by many.

Her book has been launched on the international market and has been bought and is now on the shelves of Monash University’s library John Medley. “Being a modern poet, I believe this is where I want to bring a change, just like more inspiring modern poets such as Warsan Shire and Rupi Kaur. Themes like abuse, trauma, feminism, mental health illness or loss are all part of life that society often chooses not to talk about by terming them as taboo. In fact, I am particularly intrigued by all things that people term as taboo and I deliberately choose to write about them to deconstruct those prejudices.”

I started writing at the age of 15. I have tried everything that you can ever imagine concerning writing: blogging, novel writing, news articles, poetry, memoirs and essays. I went through trials and errors."

A language person

Benazir has always been a language person. From a very young age, her parents have enrolled her in as many language classes as possible such as Alliance Française, German, Hindi and Urdu.
Talking about her inspiration, she avers that reality is her inspiration. During her journey, she has met several female friends who faced difficulties and were trapped in a conservative surrounding. However, her trip to Australia has been an eye opener. “The first thing I was sensitised about as a newcomer was identifying sexual harassment/assault, knowing what measures to take, learning to respect others regardless of who they are and where they come from, validating other people’s time when they talk about their pain or mental illnesses that are not visible! In Australia, I have done an additional mental healthcare course to assist acquaintances who suffer from any condition. I think being the “go to” person for these people has strengthened my motive for writing about such subjects.”

Juggling between studies and writing

The young lady is following a course on creative writing. “I am assessed on my writing by prestigious lecturers who are also international writers. So, I believe I'm in good hands and I don’t really have any issue managing my time.
So every day, I make sure I spend at least one hour working on my own poems/stories. I am someone who struggles with sleepless nights. So taking advantage of that, I find inspiration during the night and I write. I also travel a lot in Melbourne and courageously, randomly, strike deep conversations on related topics to study human behaviour and scrutinize opinions of others about the subjects that I deal with.”

Future project: A novel

Benazir is savagely ambitious and has lots of projects. She intends to write a debut novel in the near future. “I do aim for a higher publishing house on the international market this time.”