The passing away last week of Fahmida Riaz, formidable poet, prose writer, translator, feminist and rights activist,
Published 02 Dec, 2018 07:04am
While the 11th International Urdu Conference itself was a success, most speakers, as always, did spoil the fun by
Published 02 Dec, 2018 07:04am
It’s a risky undertaking for a man to write in the female first-person, but one that the debut novelist pulls off with
Published 02 Dec, 2018 07:04am
If teaching literature is a challenge, then a greater challenge is teaching contemporary literature. Classics, by...
Published 02 Dec, 2018 07:04am
Khadija Mastoor’s classic novel Aangan receives a superb and nuanced new translation that is likely to garner even more
Published 25 Nov, 2018 07:03am
The Faiz International Festival that took place last weekend was not without issues, but its significance as a temporary
Published 25 Nov, 2018 07:03am
An anthology of budding writers captures the social and cultural diversity of Indian life
Published 25 Nov, 2018 07:03am
Some years ago I visited the English department of a university in Pakistan and, on entering the chairman’s ...
Updated 26 Nov, 2018 03:32pm
An attempt to explore existentialism, social pressures and the obsession with youth is let down by poor worldbuilding
Published 25 Nov, 2018 07:03am
Despite her colonial prejudices, Charlotte Canning, wife of the governor-general during the Great ‘Mutiny’ of 1857,
Published 18 Nov, 2018 06:57am
The development of the pro-Hindu RSS and its influence on Indian politics
Published 18 Nov, 2018 06:57am
An authorised biography that shies away from controversial issues
Published 18 Nov, 2018 06:57am
As a writer who happens to be a woman, I’ve often been asked to comment on ‘women’s writing’ in interviews...
Published 18 Nov, 2018 06:57am
An adaptation of Jane Austen’s influential novel offers refreshing Muslim representation...
Published 11 Nov, 2018 08:38am
Despite some shortcomings, a valuable addition to the existing scholarship on the country’s energy scenario
Published 11 Nov, 2018 08:38am
Let’s pause here and carve it on our cultural consciousness that poetry — especially Urdu...
Published 11 Nov, 2018 08:38am
Crime fiction writer Megan Abbott’s latest thriller is a novel of astounding economy that is artfully crafted...
Published 11 Nov, 2018 08:38am
A glimpse into the evolution of the BJP and right-wing politics in India
Published 11 Nov, 2018 08:38am
Incense and Echoes
Fazul Suleiman Kazi
This anthology of writings covers a vast spectrum of subjects, from ...
Published 11 Nov, 2018 07:05am
My short stint as a young man in Central and Eastern Europe during 1995 and 1996 was indeed rewarding — both...
Published 11 Nov, 2018 07:05am
A timely book adds to the growing literature being written from the Pakistani perspective on the Indus Waters Treaty
Published 11 Nov, 2018 07:05am
Clifton Bridge: Stories of Innocence and Experience from Pakistan Irshad AbdulKadir A collection of 10 short stories
Published 04 Nov, 2018 07:06am
In his third novel, Mohammed Hanif challenges us to recognise the absurdity of what we have become while making us
Published 04 Nov, 2018 07:06am
Former diplomat Saad Rashidul Khairi narrates his eventful life, but through it tells of his world and changing times
Published 04 Nov, 2018 07:06am
How fair is this? On Halloween, we creep into Stephen King’s lair for terrors and scares, but here he is offering...
Published 04 Nov, 2018 07:06am
Short stories in Punjabi that attempt to articulate the aspirations and struggles of upwardly mobile groups as well as
Updated 16 Jan, 2020 11:27am
Shabbar Zaidi’s compilation of articles provides insight into the problems of Pakistan’s fiscal and forex policies
Published 04 Nov, 2018 07:06am
An exciting book by an accomplished anthropologist lays bare the history of petroglyphs in Sindh through millennia
Published 04 Nov, 2018 07:06am
Despite its self-serving nature and the withholding of significant information, former intelligence chief Gen Asad
Published 28 Oct, 2018 07:09am
In his entertaining latest collection of short stories, Sir Jeffrey Archer demonstrates he is not simply a gifted writer
Published 28 Oct, 2018 07:09am
Humans are limited in what they can experience and know by their ability to perceive through the five senses. What...
Published 28 Oct, 2018 07:09am
Thoroughly researched history told with the intimacy of fiction captures an era of great upheaval in the subcontinent
Published 28 Oct, 2018 07:09am
A dystopian novel imagines a future where a South Asian city is segregated along communal and caste lines
Published 28 Oct, 2018 07:09am
The science of publishing is distinct from the art of writing, but it is equally important for aspiring writers to
Published 28 Oct, 2018 07:09am
Oscar Wilde famously said that “the true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.” But the...
Published 28 Oct, 2018 07:09am
A new collection of 13 poignant short stories showcases the quietness with which Aamer Hussein portrays turmoil and
Published 21 Oct, 2018 08:34am
A fresh and exciting approach to pen portraits attempts to include the milieu of the subjects, but only manages to
Published 21 Oct, 2018 08:34am
Yasmeen Hameed has published five collections of poems from 1988 to 2012 and edited anthologies of Pakistani Urdu...
Published 21 Oct, 2018 08:34am
Reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s famous murder mystery, this whodunnit is surprising and gratifying
Published 21 Oct, 2018 08:34am
In a new novel, a young woman attempts to sleep away an entire year to get over her existential ennui
Published 21 Oct, 2018 08:34am
The naiveté of the modernisation project was a direct result of uncritical acceptance of the colonisers’
Published 21 Oct, 2018 08:34am
Muhammad Hasan Askari has always intrigued me as a formidable scholar, writer and critic. But his conceptualisation...
Published 21 Oct, 2018 08:34am
Milkman wins the Man Booker 2018 Northern Irish author Anna Burns has won this year’s Man Booker Prize for her novel
Published 21 Oct, 2018 08:34am
Bina Shah’s novel about a dystopian future paints a fascinating world, rich with detail and intricate in its imaginings
Published 14 Oct, 2018 07:11am
In a collection of essays, Raza Rumi goes back into a shared history to understand what it means to be a Pakistani in
Published 14 Oct, 2018 07:11am
At the age of 31, I read widely in about four languages: English, French, Italian and Spanish. By the age of 36 ...
Updated 15 Oct, 2018 02:24pm
A travelogue of great erudition, but also a heartfelt lament about the ecological degradation of the author’s native
Published 14 Oct, 2018 07:11am
Nisar Muhammad Khan, who passed away on September 7, will be remembered for his singular contributions to Pakhtun
Updated 16 Oct, 2018 11:23am
A critique of liberalism from a conservative perspective argues that there is an unresolved contradiction within it
Published 14 Oct, 2018 07:11am
Usually, the crassness of politics and power agitates you and the refinement in art and literature soothes. But then...
Published 14 Oct, 2018 07:11am
From Stasis to Mobility: Arab Muslim Feminists and Travelling Theory
Saiyma Aslam
The author looks at works by...
Published 14 Oct, 2018 07:11am
Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, our major poet, fiction writer and literary editor from the last century, once recalled meeting ...
Published 07 Oct, 2018 07:00am
Fatima Bhutto’s sophomore novel is a tender account of how identity, representation, alienation, faith and desire are
Published 07 Oct, 2018 07:00am
After a spell of five years, Fatima Bhutto is back with her second work of fiction, The Runaways. Set largely in...
Published 07 Oct, 2018 07:00am
If you’ve been online dating for more than a hot second, you’ve probably encountered a range of joys and ...
Published 07 Oct, 2018 07:00am
A collection of short stories that anyone can see themselves in, with Indian American culture humming in the background
Updated 04 Nov, 2018 04:42pm
Although called a novel, this book is based upon real experiences the author shared with his young son and is a
Published 07 Oct, 2018 07:00am
The poster of a recent film adaptation of Ismat Chughtai’s famed short story indicates that it may yet again be
Published 07 Oct, 2018 07:00am
Bob Woodward’s latest bestseller, already in its 10th reprint since its release on September 11, has broken a number of
Published 30 Sep, 2018 06:28am
A promising start to a novel is gradually squandered through forays into politics, geography and ambition
Published 30 Sep, 2018 06:28am
The Zee Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) came to Houston, Texas for the first time in September and it was an...
Published 30 Sep, 2018 06:28am
A feminist retelling of a popular children’s story turns it on its head
Published 30 Sep, 2018 06:28am
Two new books of Punjabi poetry by the prolific Najm Hosain Syed continue his exploration of his immediate environment
Published 30 Sep, 2018 06:28am
A book argues that seminaries need to be viewed as an educational challenge rather than be looked at through the prism
Published 30 Sep, 2018 06:28am
In Pakistan, India or other developing countries, it is a common sight that old buildings of bricks and mortar are...
Published 30 Sep, 2018 06:28am
The grande dame of prose poetry has mellowed and her anger has been replaced with wistfulness about love
Published 23 Sep, 2018 06:41am
While many in Pakistan may not know the eminent Urdu poet Shahryar, a slim volume may help correct that oversight
Published 23 Sep, 2018 06:41am
The stinking water in a flower vase begins to swelter and bubble with fermentation as chemical processes unleash a...
Published 23 Sep, 2018 06:41am
A book looks at the diverse strands of thought that fed into concepts of the educated Muslim girl in South Asia
Published 23 Sep, 2018 06:41am
Dr Shenila Khoja-Moolji is Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at Bowdoin College, US. ...
Published 23 Sep, 2018 06:41am
The following extract has been taken from Saif Mahmood’s book Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and Her Greatest Poets,...
Published 23 Sep, 2018 06:41am
In his 2005 introduction to ‘Jejuri’ — a celebrated poem by the leading English and Marathi language poet Arun...
Updated 24 Sep, 2018 03:57pm
Nahin Naqshgar, Nahin Naqshgar Ka Kamaal Hum!
Makhdoom Tipu Salman
From a lawyer with books on law, history and...
Published 23 Sep, 2018 06:41am
Syeda Muhammadi Begum died at just 30 years of age, but managed to author more than 30 books for women and children
Published 16 Sep, 2018 06:45am
An anthology of short stories revolving around women offers a compelling, poignant and inspirational read
Published 16 Sep, 2018 06:45am
Many readers may have heard of a French novel called La Disparition by Georges Perec, written without using the...
Updated 16 Sep, 2018 10:37am
A journalist explores everyday life in the four quarters of Old Jerusalem
Published 16 Sep, 2018 06:45am
An account of the men and women who built it from a haphazard group of amateurs into the sprawling behemoth it is today
Published 16 Sep, 2018 06:45am
This motivational business fable was a monster hit. Twenty years later, we’re still wondering why
Published 16 Sep, 2018 06:45am
It is problematic when great poets in any language are not only identified but categorised by their geographical...
Published 16 Sep, 2018 06:45am
Diary of a Vagabond
Mustansar Hussain Tarar
A collection of travel columns that have been previously published in...
Published 16 Sep, 2018 06:45am
A new book uses oral histories to explore the larger Kashmir conflict through the lens of Azad Kashmiris
Updated 10 Sep, 2018 12:24pm
Anam Zakaria is a researcher, development professional, educationist, and winner of the KLF-German Peace Prize 2017...
Published 09 Sep, 2018 06:55am
A poem of Faiz Ahmed Faiz that begins with the line
[And so we shall witness] has become over the years perhaps ...
Published 09 Sep, 2018 06:55am
Making villages active in governance processes is crucial for national progress, argues a development practitioner
Published 09 Sep, 2018 06:55am
A voracious exploration of femininity, suburban malaise, societal pressures and politics
Published 09 Sep, 2018 06:55am
A polemical new book looks at the rise of the popularly elected dictator around the world
Published 09 Sep, 2018 06:55am
Writing for television can be challenging and lucrative, but there are limits to how deep one can venture into the...
Published 09 Sep, 2018 06:55am
An anthology of translated Urdu short stories by brilliant wordsmiths that is a joy to read
Published 02 Sep, 2018 06:58am
Challenging dominant historiographies of the indigenous feminist movement
Updated 05 Sep, 2018 03:36pm
One of the year’s biggest #MeToo scandals came in the literary world earlier this year when Pulitzer Prize-winning...
Published 02 Sep, 2018 06:58am
A Young Adult novel that is much more than the usual and tackles issues of religion, culture, mental health and abuse
Published 02 Sep, 2018 06:58am
Driving the plot are dead relatives, strange wills and ominous birds
Published 02 Sep, 2018 06:58am
Professor Shamim Hanafi is a leading Indian Urdu literary critic, poet and playwright. He has penned several books,...
Published 02 Sep, 2018 06:58am
I would truly feel small if asked to comment on a work of art as brilliant, celebrated and so thoroughly analysed ...
Published 02 Sep, 2018 06:58am
Cultural critic Nadeem Farooq Paracha’s third book attempts to provide easy access to a diverse Pakistan with
Published 26 Aug, 2018 07:40am
In her new novel, the author builds an engrossing world particularly for young adults, ingeniously incorporating
Published 26 Aug, 2018 07:40am
In 2005, the art connoisseur Philippe Costamagna and a colleague were in a museum in Nice, on the French Riviera,...
Published 26 Aug, 2018 07:40am
An Indian author insightfully examines the personality traits and leadership styles of the individuals who have held
Published 26 Aug, 2018 07:40am
