Fatima Bhutto’s latest book is a thoughtful and entertaining look at how American pop culture has been displaced by new
Published 22 Dec, 2019 08:55am
A Pakistani novel explores a young man’s evolving relationship to his faith, but its complexity is let down by its
Published 22 Dec, 2019 08:45am
An archaeological analysis of Afghanistan’s last great indigenous empire remarkably integrates the traditional and the
Published 22 Dec, 2019 08:31am
I once attended a talk in Karachi on the challenges that women writers face, hoping to learn something about how...
Published 22 Dec, 2019 08:23am
A simply written and illustrated explanation of how the principles of the traditional martial art of Taekwondo can be
Published 22 Dec, 2019 08:19am
In its 12th edition, the International Urdu Conference expanded to include other Pakistani languages and politics and in
Published 15 Dec, 2019 09:23am
Syed Nomanul Haq meticulously turns a compiled version of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s collected works into a critical one and thus
Published 15 Dec, 2019 09:21am
The project was initiated in memory of my mother, Zeenat Haroon Rashid, who passed away in 2017. All her life she had
Published 15 Dec, 2019 09:13am
For those who have moved across places, there is a town where they dwell and there is a town which dwells inside...
Published 15 Dec, 2019 09:09am
Margaret Atwood’s sequel to her iconic The Handmaid’s Tale may not live up to its prequel, but is remarkable for its
Published 08 Dec, 2019 08:59am
A true account of the harrowing ordeal and journey to eventual survival of a father and son is one of the finest
Published 08 Dec, 2019 08:56am
A philosopher’s recounting of philosophical traditions whets the appetite for reflection
Published 08 Dec, 2019 08:49am
Words are the medium of expression for humans ... but words also put limitations, boundaries. God is free from...
Published 08 Dec, 2019 08:46am
A debut novel set amongst a desi immigrant family in the US tackles the thorny issue of the search for the perfect
Published 01 Dec, 2019 08:28am
An analysis of the rise of the so-called ‘Islamic State’ presents a unique look at its narratives through a South Asian
Published 01 Dec, 2019 08:24am
An excellent introduction to 1700s’ South Asia, William Dalrymple’s latest book offers much more food for thought for
Published 01 Dec, 2019 08:20am
Recently Rahat Fateh Ali Khan played the arena in my home city of Leeds — four hours of liquid gold vocalisation. ...
Published 01 Dec, 2019 08:13am
A historical and contemporary political record and analysis that explains the evolution of the ideology from the margins
Published 24 Nov, 2019 07:07am
A tiny work of literature created by Charlotte Bronte — the eldest of the three Bronte sisters, and author of the novel
Published 24 Nov, 2019 07:07am
Reading on BBC2 about a series of programmes on the novels focusing on empire and race that shaped our world, I recalled
Published 24 Nov, 2019 07:07am
Agha Shahid Ali’s “shrine of words” speaks to Kashmir’s curfewed heart
Published 24 Nov, 2019 07:07am
Naseer Turabi compiles a dictionary of Urdu slang and the vernacular
Published 24 Nov, 2019 07:07am
A debut novel makes an impact as a captivating story, combining historical fiction with a touch of both supernatural as
Published 24 Nov, 2019 07:07am
Back in the 1970s and ’80s, at a fairly young age, it was in his native Lahore that he joined the political...
Published 17 Nov, 2019 07:19am
The ban on import of books from India is having a disastrous effect, not only on the business of bookshops, but also on
Published 17 Nov, 2019 07:19am
With November 19 being World Toilet Day, a book from Indian Gujarat charts the challenges and success of a programme to
Published 17 Nov, 2019 07:19am
A book of essays presents insights into the seminal event and its repercussions from a wide range of academic and
Published 17 Nov, 2019 07:19am
Described as an “ode to exploring the unbound beauty of the universe and its beings”, these minimalistic poems often
Published 10 Nov, 2019 06:57am
The last quarter of this year marks the centenary of T.S. Eliot’s essay ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’....
Published 10 Nov, 2019 06:57am
An authoritative book looks at the transnational transformation of Shia thought and religious authority in the country
Published 10 Nov, 2019 06:57am
Multiple sci-fi award-winning author puts out her first collection of short stories that cements her position as a
Published 10 Nov, 2019 06:57am
Zadie Smith’s first short story collection occupies a remote corner of a universe in which conventional notions of time
Published 10 Nov, 2019 06:57am
Ahmad Faraz, the poet whose words delivered young hearts into a frenzied gallop, has himself been dwindling into...
Published 03 Nov, 2019 07:02am
The pop repackaging of samurai Miyamoto Musashi’s texts takes them as far from the samurai ethic as it is possible to be
Published 03 Nov, 2019 07:02am
A debut novel traces a journey of self-discovery through global politics
Published 03 Nov, 2019 07:02am
Sheheryar Sheikh’s sophomore novel is a thinly disguised fictional biopic that underscores the ugly side of power
Published 03 Nov, 2019 07:02am
A comprehensive study of the ground-changing literary criticism of Shamsur Rahman Faruqi
Published 27 Oct, 2019 07:04am
An American and a Pakistani pen a book that brims with serendipity; the central message is along the lines of ‘if you
Published 27 Oct, 2019 07:04am
Deborah Levy’s eighth and most complex novel, longlisted for the Booker Prize, provides a timely lesson in history and
Published 27 Oct, 2019 07:04am
ATWOOD, EVARISTO SHARE 2019’S BOOKER PRIZE
The Booker Prize for Fiction this year has been awarded jointly to...
Published 27 Oct, 2019 07:04am
Reading T.S. Eliot’s letters, one learns how an obscure work by an unknown writer is pushed to the attention of a...
Updated 28 Oct, 2019 11:39am
Dr Rakhshanda Jalil is one of those rare language scholars and literary translators who have an exceptional command...
Published 20 Oct, 2019 06:59am
A debut novel from a celebrated poet shows glimpses of the gorgeous and original imagery and the elliptical and
Published 20 Oct, 2019 06:59am
An autobiography traces an exhilarating life spent in a ceaseless struggle to know, discover and inform
Published 20 Oct, 2019 06:59am
A translated collection of articles by fellow writers, publishers and relatives about arguably the greatest short story
Published 20 Oct, 2019 06:59am
The 2019 Booker Prize for Fiction will be announced on Oct 14, 2019. Here’s a quick recap of the shortlist to know...
Published 13 Oct, 2019 07:05am
A former career diplomat’s autobiography is full of sometimes hilarious and sometimes depressing anecdotes about
Published 13 Oct, 2019 07:05am
Arundhati Roy is a fiction writer reacting to the world around her with facts, which is why her words have the effect
Published 13 Oct, 2019 07:05am
In the course of my journey with Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib’s Divans, I noticed how he carefully chose verses ...
Published 06 Oct, 2019 07:04am
One may not agree with the author’s treatise about its origins, but the superb photography and historical context
Published 06 Oct, 2019 07:04am
Despite the author’s considerable linguistic ability and acerbic wit, a very odd type of nervousness pervades this
Published 06 Oct, 2019 07:04am
The most striking feature of the 6th Islamabad Literature Festival was that it provided a forum for open debate and bold
Published 06 Oct, 2019 07:04am
An insightful writer contemplates knowledge that cultivates wisdom, as opposed to the mere accumulation of information
Published 29 Sep, 2019 07:09am
A book takes the hot-button topic of match-fixing in cricket and handles it with great dexterity, providing tremendous
Published 29 Sep, 2019 07:09am
The withdrawal of the Nelly Sachs Prize to Kamila Shamsie devalues the prize itself, rather than diminish the stature
Published 29 Sep, 2019 07:09am
The Key to the American Constitution
Ali Tahir
According to the author, a barrister from Lincoln’s Inn, law...
Published 29 Sep, 2019 07:09am
This August, the Hindu right-wing leader Narendra Modi provocatively revoked India-held Jammu and Kashmir’s (IHK)...
Published 29 Sep, 2019 07:09am
As I drove through the unfamiliar suburb of Acton on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I was thinking how London, with its...
Published 22 Sep, 2019 06:58am
In the absence of a truly free press, a journalist lets readers draw their own conclusions about the 2018 elections
Published 22 Sep, 2019 06:58am
Despite sometimes mawkish dialogue and a lack of character development beyond its protagonists, a novel attempts
Published 22 Sep, 2019 06:58am
Umera Ahmed’s latest novel is all about simplistic binaries and the rejection of the world in
favour of the author’s
Published 22 Sep, 2019 06:58am
She was born in the same year as Allama Muhammad Iqbal, but outlived him by three decades. A true polymath, a woman...
Published 15 Sep, 2019 07:02am
The 1884 satirical play The Ilbert Bill is a classic and, like all classics, it is speaks to us even today
Updated 16 Sep, 2019 11:23am
A valuable addition to Sindh studies, a new book presents the history and oral narratives of a community largely
Published 15 Sep, 2019 07:02am
A novel by a first-time writer and set in the bleak and wintry landscape of Kamchatka is unlike anything else recent
Published 15 Sep, 2019 07:02am
IN THE AUTHOR’S OWN VOICE
Easily available text-to-voice technology means that any book can be turned into an...
Published 08 Sep, 2019 07:06am
Every year around mid-August, with some degree of fanfare, the civil awards are announced by the government of...
Published 08 Sep, 2019 07:06am
Hassan Abbas’ latest book provides good summaries of existing knowledge, but few fresh insights into a much-addressed
Published 08 Sep, 2019 07:06am
Two novelettes offer an empathetic portrayal of the brutal effects political environment and economic conditions
Published 08 Sep, 2019 07:06am
A Taiwanese-American computer scientist examines what the race for global Artificial Intelligence dominance between
Published 08 Sep, 2019 07:06am
An earnest debut that juxtaposes a family saga with the zeitgeist of pre- and post-Partition turmoil is richly detailed
Published 01 Sep, 2019 07:27am
Stories based on crime are of interest to many readers. They highlight the socio-legal stalemate in society. ...
Published 01 Sep, 2019 07:27am
Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s exile in Beirut has been written about. But his contribution to the magazine Lotus still need to
Published 01 Sep, 2019 07:27am
A debut foray into adult fiction is like a force of nature, a testament to the power of words and masterful storytelling
Published 01 Sep, 2019 07:27am
A seminal Urdu treatise on the Progressive Writers’ Movement is rendered into English by the formidable author’s
Updated 27 Aug, 2019 05:01pm
The letters in the seventh volume of T.S. Eliot’s massive correspondence — written during 1934-35 when he was a...
Updated 26 Aug, 2019 09:55am
A strange sickness spreads through the land in a languorous, well-crafted novel about love and loss, fear and endurance
Published 25 Aug, 2019 07:11am
Daisy Rockwell’s superb translation of Khadija Mastur’s posthumous and oft-neglected novel makes it even more compelling
Published 25 Aug, 2019 07:11am
Health and Sustainable Development Goals for Pakistan Edited by Zulfiqar A. Bhutta and Jai K. Das
Published 18 Aug, 2019 07:16am
As I write this column, a sense of agitation and urgency threatens to overpower my emotions. Recently, the Indian...
Published 18 Aug, 2019 07:16am
Arundhati Roy’s most recent novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, is set largely in Delhi and Kashmir and weaves
Published 18 Aug, 2019 07:16am
A must-read for those among us willing to critically re-examine our ideas about the past, sets the record straight about
Published 18 Aug, 2019 07:16am
Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winner Toni Morrison, who died August 5, allowed her imagination to boldly go where no
Published 18 Aug, 2019 07:16am
M.D. Taseer, a leading poet and critic in the early and mid-20th century, gained recognition for his writing under...
Published 11 Aug, 2019 07:06am
Three collections by British poets give Pakistani English poetry new dimensions
Published 11 Aug, 2019 07:06am
A sequel to a critically acclaimed debut novel allows us to see the lives of characters beyond the last page of the
Published 11 Aug, 2019 07:06am
An English translation of the jail memoirs of the only surviving member of the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case accused,
Published 11 Aug, 2019 07:06am
Hujum-i-fikr se dil misl-i-mauj larze hai Keh shishah nazuk-o-sehba-i-abginah gudaz [The heart pulses with a storm
Published 04 Aug, 2019 07:08am
A public health specialist urges us to look beyond doctor-patient relationships and at the policymakers
Published 04 Aug, 2019 07:08am
Recently translated into English from Norwegian, a novel explores human loneliness, the power of words and what it means
Published 04 Aug, 2019 07:08am
A new presentation of Rumi’s verse is visually delightful and, while the English rendition is more interpretation than
Updated 05 Aug, 2019 01:06pm
The Sensational Life and Death of Qandeel Baloch by Sanam Maher is about to be published in the United Kingdom as A...
Published 28 Jul, 2019 07:00am
In the 46 years since the demise of this iconic and enigmatic figure, there is still no singular biographical work that
Updated 02 Aug, 2019 08:52am
Turkish author Elif Shafak’s latest novel traces the life of an Istanbul prostitute after her death
and of others
Published 28 Jul, 2019 07:00am
Celebrated poet, lyricist, essayist and researcher Himayat Ali Shair, who passed away on July 16, never compromised
Published 28 Jul, 2019 07:00am
In November last year, during a session about literature and language at the International Islamic University in...
Published 21 Jul, 2019 05:53am
A book expands the purpose of the art exhibition catalogue from a marketing tool and takes it into a discursive space
Published 21 Jul, 2019 05:53am
The latest literary endeavour from a Pakistani author is a satisfying novella, two short stories and a narrative poem
Published 21 Jul, 2019 05:53am
A must-read biography of Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan pulls in material from both sides of the border to paint
Published 21 Jul, 2019 05:53am
