Sher Jung was born in Moga in Punjab into a poor family but despite this he trained as a teacher and later became a Headteacher in his town of Shahkhot. Sher Jung advocated for the establishment of free and universal education and used his position to support and educate poor families During his lifetime he published thirteen books, mainly in the Panjabi language including ‘Chur Chur’ or ‘the great grumbler’ a collection of satirical short stories poking fun at the establishment. Sher Jung was a great believer in the power of literature to transform lives and freedom of speech.

Sher Jung arrived in the UK in 1966 and lived in Southall, West London. He was active member of the Indian Workers Association and he also established the first Panjabi writers association in the UK for Panjabi writers abroad. He organised the first world writers conference for Punjabi authors.

Sher Jung came to the UK for economic reasons. His dream was to write full time but as was the case for a lot of Punjabi authors this was not financially viable. His style of writing was essentially political satire and he wrote mainly short stories as well as columns for various Punjabi and Hindi publications.

The charity was set up to promote the values of Sher Jung and seeks to not only highlight the work and principles of this important and influential writer but to further amplify and centre south Asian literature. The Charity values the role of translation and other languages and the important role they play in a healthy dynamic culture. The Charity aims to foster an inclusive ethos and over the coming years wishes to help support emerging writers and artists particular from disadvantaged backgrounds.