and the group began to meet once or twice a month to read and critique each other’s works. First all-India Progressive Writers' Conference In the summer of 1935 Zaheer returned to India and started working on setting up the All India Progressive Writers’ Associated in India. In order to garner support for the association he along with Ahmed Ali travelled to various cities in India and met with several writers including Firaq Gorakhpuri, Ehtesham Husain, Shivdan Singh Chauhan, Narendra Sharma, Amarnath Jha, and Tara Chand. They also attended the conference of Hindi and Urdu writers in Allahabad in December 1935, organized by Tara Chand under the aegis of the Hindustani Academy and met Premchand, Maulvi Abdul Haq, Josh Malihabadi, Munshi Daya Narayan Nigam. In January 1936, Zaheer travelled to Amritsar to meet Rashid Jahan and Mahmuduzzafar where he also met Faiz Ahmed Faiz for the first time. The four of them travelled to Lahore to stay with Mian Iftikharuddin where they met various writers from Lahore including Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum, Akhtar Sheerani, Abdul Majeed Salik, Chiragh Hasan Hasrat, Mian Bashir, and Firoz Din Mansoor, garnering support for setting up a branch in Lahore. Sufi Tabassum was appointed its secretary. After the establishment of branches in various cities, it was decided to hold an All-India conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the Indian National Congress which was to meet in Lucknow. The first All-India Progressive Writers' Conference was held in Lucknow on April 10, 1936 under the leadership of Sajjad Zaheer. Premchand was requested to preside over the conference. The conference was held at the Rifah-e-Aam Hall, with Ale Ahmad Suroor as the convenor and Chaudhry Mohammed Ali Rudaulvi as chairman of the Reception Committee. While Premchand delivered his presidential address titled Sahitya ka Udeshya (The Aim of Literature), papers were presented by Firaq Gorakhpuri, Mahmudazzafar, Ahmed Ali, and Surendra Nath Goswami. Other writers present were Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Mian Iftikharuddin, Yusuf Meherally, Indulal Yagnik, Jainendra Kumar, and Saghar Nizami. The conference was also attended by leftist leaders including Jai Prakash Narayan, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, and was supported by Congress leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Sarojini Naidu. The first conference laid down the basic organisational structure of the movement. A national body under the name All-India Progressive Writers' Association (Anjuman Taraqqi Pasand Musannifin-e-Hind) was established. An All-India Committee consisting of representatives of the various regional branches, a Publication