Hard and Bloody Road to Independence:
Timor Leste
Tariq Ashraf Mughal
A history of the country that gained...
Published 10 Jun, 2018 06:53am
Matthew Pearl’s latest crime novel portrays interactions among the poets who variously regard one another with
Published 10 Jun, 2018 06:53am
There is an old Arabic adage: The death of a scholar is the death of the world. Falling well within the tradition of...
Published 10 Jun, 2018 06:53am
Masood Ashar is a renowned Urdu short story writer. He has published four collections of short stories, including ...
Published 10 Jun, 2018 06:53am
Split: A Life is an outspoken account that lays bare the life of its author with all its foibles and frills
Published 10 Jun, 2018 06:53am
Shadab Zeest Hashmi’s latest book pushes the traditional notion of the ghazal to espouse a broadened scope of concerns
Published 10 Jun, 2018 06:53am
One of the finest novelists of his generation, Julian Barnes writes a novel that is perhaps the saddest novel to have
Published 10 Jun, 2018 06:53am
Eminent scholar M. Umar Memon, who passed away on June 4, opened up new avenues of expression through an armload
Published 10 Jun, 2018 06:53am
Don’t be awed by Urfi because he is from Shiraz
Don’t be captivated by Zulali because he is from Khwansar
Come...
Published 10 Jun, 2018 06:53am
Argentinean poet and writer Jorge Luis Borges had almost lost his eyesight in the latter years of his life. Once he...
Published 03 Jun, 2018 07:05am
June 3 is Prague-born writer Franz Kafka’s 94th death anniversary. Books & Authors reflects on his creative legacy
Published 03 Jun, 2018 07:05am
Mazhar Kaleem, who passed away on May 26, built a loyal fan base for his detective stories in Urdu
Published 03 Jun, 2018 07:05am
A lucid, diverse and critical collection of essays that look at literary production across the globe to illuminate some
Published 03 Jun, 2018 07:05am
The tiny woman standing in front of me at the crowded reception turned around and said, “Hello, I’m Pat.” I...
Published 03 Jun, 2018 07:05am
Ayaz Gul is one of the leading contemporary Sindhi poets of the country. He has published seven collections of...
Published 03 Jun, 2018 07:05am
On the surface a compendium of funny advice, between the lines the book also tackles serious issues thatsss
Published 03 Jun, 2018 07:05am
Economist Ishrat Husain’s magnum opus is a very useful book in terms of information, data and chronicling, but suffers
Published 03 Jun, 2018 07:05am
hasn’t she done Pakistan enough damage?’ — Sanam Maher
Published 27 May, 2018 08:37am
It is an important book for a Pakistani to read and to take seriously.
Published 27 May, 2018 08:37am
The celebrated author of Portnoy’s Complaint passed away on May 22 at the age of 85
Published 27 May, 2018 08:37am
Lessons from Implementation of Educational Reforms in Pakistan:
Published 27 May, 2018 08:37am
A sequel to a well-received book on Sikh heritage in Pakistan adds more explorations and is an essential read
Published 27 May, 2018 08:37am
An in-depth study brings healthcare workers into the discussion about violence against women in Pakistan
Published 27 May, 2018 08:37am
“In three or four generations the race would not be able to survive at all, would not be able to make...
Published 27 May, 2018 08:37am
A book on the life and murder of social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch presents an engaging social ...
Published 27 May, 2018 08:37am
The white-suited wizard of ‘New Journalism’ who exuberantly chronicled American culture, passed away this week at age 88
Published 20 May, 2018 08:02am
American musician Tom Waits beautifully said once that this world is a hellish place and bad writing is destroying...
Published 20 May, 2018 08:02am
Shazaf Fatima Haider is the author of two novels: How It Happened and the recently released A Firefly in the Dark....
Published 20 May, 2018 08:02am
A self-help book draws on the experiences and insights of over 140 captains of industry
Published 20 May, 2018 08:02am
A qualitative study into Muslim women in India allows its subjects to form their own narratives
Published 20 May, 2018 08:02am
The shock that then jolts the reader is the substitution in the reader’s mind of the rats by people...
Published 20 May, 2018 08:02am
The Nobel Prize in Literature will not be awarded this year, amid allegations of sexual misconduct against ...
Published 20 May, 2018 08:02am
The best part about Jeet Thayil’s dazzling and dizzying sophomore novel is its book within a book
Published 20 May, 2018 08:02am
A Pulitzer-winning author details the lack of coherence and consistency that have characterised US military involvement
Published 13 May, 2018 07:20am
After a three-hour delay in departure from Islamabad, it was a turbulent flight to Quetta. The faint-hearted ...
Published 13 May, 2018 07:20am
Call it a tribute or a memoir, this book tells you more about the changing times of Hollywood than any history book
Published 13 May, 2018 07:20am
An English translation does justice to Mustansar Hussain Tarar’s deeply insightful novel
Published 13 May, 2018 07:20am
A series of interlocking short stories conjures up the supernatural and the games our brains play with the past
Published 13 May, 2018 07:20am
The larger-than-life shadow of despotic tyrants takes over all aspects of society, from work ethics to spirituality....
Published 13 May, 2018 07:20am
History is mostly about men. Two well-produced books relish demolishing that characterisation
Published 13 May, 2018 07:20am
Even after centuries have passed, the charm and enigma of great verse from anywhere has the strength to move someone...
Published 06 May, 2018 07:05am
Christopher Shackle’s translation of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s Risalo loses out on nuance, but is consistent, articulate
Published 06 May, 2018 07:05am
Explaining the importance of entrepreneurial education in creating a healthy economic ecosystem for Pakistan
Published 06 May, 2018 07:05am
A novel grapples with the crises of identities in multicultural America, but fails to flesh out its Pakistani characters
Published 06 May, 2018 07:05am
If family secrets are the stuff memoirs are made of, it’s no wonder the genre is flourishing. Nearly every family...
Published 06 May, 2018 07:05am
One of the most iconic filmmakers and film lyricists of the subcontinent, Sampooran Singh Kalra aka Gulzar was born...
Published 06 May, 2018 07:05am
A collection of poetry and short stories by Gulzar about Partition have finally been published in Pakistan in the script
Published 06 May, 2018 07:05am
Malala Yousafzai’s recent return to Pakistan, after five years of exile, spawned columns of newsprint and dozens ...
Published 29 Apr, 2018 07:16am
A slim new novel comes across on occasion as almost Dickensian in its sweeping portrayal of social panorama
Published 29 Apr, 2018 07:16am
A superbly researched, fresh perspective on the 1857 war of independence
Published 29 Apr, 2018 07:16am
Nigaar Khaana: Shanul Haq Haqqee ki Muntakhib Tehreerein
This collection of literary essays and pen sketches by...
Published 29 Apr, 2018 07:16am
Where autobiographical writing by black men is concerned, perhaps no figure looms as large as James Baldwin’s...
Published 29 Apr, 2018 07:16am
A book looking specifically at Pakistani migrants to the UAE has important lessons for policymakers within Pakistan
Published 29 Apr, 2018 07:16am
Stories that capture important moments of the human experience
Published 29 Apr, 2018 07:16am
An author moves characters from classics about ‘mad scientists’ confidently, if not completely convincingly, through
Published 29 Apr, 2018 07:16am
In Pakistan today, we face a renewed challenge to both freedom of inquiry and freedom of expression, coupled with a...
Published 22 Apr, 2018 07:20am
A sumptuous volume is not only a tribute to a legendary stamp designer, but also a visual chronicle
Published 22 Apr, 2018 07:20am
It’s about time something genuinely comic came out on top
Published 22 Apr, 2018 07:20am
A profound comment on identity and belonging in today’s troubled multicultural world
Published 22 Apr, 2018 07:20am
Yesterday, April 21, marked exactly 80 years since the death of Allama Muhammad Iqbal. Who is Iqbal? So many lofty...
Published 22 Apr, 2018 07:20am
True stories of people across the religious divide, who all found solace in Nizamuddin Auliya
Published 22 Apr, 2018 07:20am
A valuable addition to understanding the political economy of Pakistan, a new book takes a dialectical approach
Updated 25 Mar, 2019 04:37pm
A debutante author reconstructs Partition through the things fleeing migrants took with them from their homes
Published 15 Apr, 2018 06:28am
More than halfway through Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif’s lengthy masterpiece In the Eye of the Sun, the...
Published 15 Apr, 2018 06:28am
A debut novel that spins a twisty tale of friendship, death and deceit
Published 15 Apr, 2018 06:28am
The first runner-up in the Karachi Literature Festival-German Peace Prize is a critical and timely contribution
Published 15 Apr, 2018 06:28am
Mehvar
Ibn Saeed
In this classic story by Hasan Askari writing under a pseudonym, the disempowerment of ...
Published 15 Apr, 2018 06:28am
The poise, the grace, the detached analysis of the political trajectory of the country and the unique...
Published 15 Apr, 2018 06:28am
Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s autobiography is mediocre at best and has come too soon in his career
Published 15 Apr, 2018 06:28am
Aanchal Malhotra is the author of Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition Through Material Memory
Did...
Published 15 Apr, 2018 06:28am
The Best of Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Parvez Anjum
With several volumes of translations to his name, particularly the works ...
Published 08 Apr, 2018 06:48am
When I was 9 or 10 and liked to go to Saturday afternoon horror films, there was a kid who got so scared he’d pull...
Published 08 Apr, 2018 06:48am
Exploring what it means to be a Muslim in today’s India through the lens of a vilified Delhi neighbourhood
Published 08 Apr, 2018 06:48am
A “story that ought to be better known” could have been far better told
Published 08 Apr, 2018 06:48am
The first of a series of mystery novels set in 1920s Bombay is flawed, but also offers promise
Published 08 Apr, 2018 06:48am
Garden imagery can be allegorical, metaphorical or simply romantic. In classical Persian and Urdu ghazal, the garden...
Published 08 Apr, 2018 06:48am
The English translation of a seminal work that documents journalists’ struggle against state repression in 1977-78
Published 08 Apr, 2018 06:48am
An uncommon masterpiece on the Russian Revolution of 1917 incorporates illuminating insights and information, even
Published 08 Apr, 2018 06:48am
British baking star Nadiya Hussain debuts with an original novel that is more substantial than the average beach read
Published 01 Apr, 2018 06:49am
Despite being light on theory and heavy on policy, an anthology presents a crucial contribution to academic discourse
Published 01 Apr, 2018 06:49am
On a cool February morning, I flew into Islamabad to speak at the Mother Languages Literature Festival at Lok Virsa...
Published 01 Apr, 2018 06:49am
Fatahnamah-i-Sindh
Dr Nabi Bakhsh
Khan Baloch
This reprint of Dr Baloch’s 1982 book coincides with his birth...
Published 01 Apr, 2018 06:49am
To the utter dismay of a few quintessential lamenters with liberal leanings in our midst, we were successful in...
Published 01 Apr, 2018 06:49am
A journalist’s travels through Pakistan to reinstil faith in and hope for the country
Published 01 Apr, 2018 06:49am
On March 23, Mohsin Hamid was awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz [Star of Excellence] by the government of Pakistan for his...
Published 01 Apr, 2018 06:49am
Richard Dawkins — atheist, evolutionary biologist, vocal critic of all religions and author of more than a dozen...
Published 25 Mar, 2018 06:15am
It is perhaps their inherent sense of pride and overtly masculine demeanour that prevents the Pakhtun from crying ...
Published 25 Mar, 2018 06:15am
A glossy coffee-table book takes a pictorial excursion into Pakistan’s cinematic past
Published 25 Mar, 2018 06:15am
A deceased family member with a mysterious will sets the plot for a quirky novel about family, death, madness — and
Published 25 Mar, 2018 06:15am
Seeing China’s vast borderlands through the eyes of those who must deal with the challenge of living with neighbours
Published 25 Mar, 2018 06:15am
Last month marked the launch of the Smithsonian Institution’s ‘Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the...
Published 25 Mar, 2018 06:15am
Franklin Foer asks: what happens to society when journalism is reduced to little more than tabloid fare?
Published 25 Mar, 2018 06:15am
Despite a few omissions, Dr Kaiser Bengali has done a service to Balochistan by eloquently presenting the case for the
Published 25 Mar, 2018 06:15am
She started out as an artist’s model, and went on to become a respected painter in her own right
Published 18 Mar, 2018 07:09am
A multilayered novel punctuated with contemporary history that deserves to be read more than once
Published 18 Mar, 2018 07:09am
It is cold midwinter and the line from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘Ode to the West Wind’ — “If Winter comes,...
Published 18 Mar, 2018 07:09am
Hasan Manzar’s novel Habs is a lesson in history and human nature
Published 18 Mar, 2018 07:09am
Shikarpur no longer enjoys the geographic and economic significance it did a few centuries ago. In her book, Prof Anila
Published 18 Mar, 2018 07:09am
Wisdom from the Quran: Essays in Contemporary Context
Nilofar AhmedA collection of essays — many of which were...
Published 18 Mar, 2018 07:09am
