NON-FICTION: THREE WOMEN REBELLING

NON-FICTION: THREE WOMEN REBELLING

It is invariably a good sign when a writer does not allow tragedy and adversity to daunt him or her to the point where one’s... Published 18 Aug, 2024 10:39am
FICTION: THE MEMORY OF WATER

FICTION: THE MEMORY OF WATER

Elif Shafak’s latest novel is a story about three lives across time and space, connected by history, myth, experience and a drop
Published 18 Aug, 2024 10:30am
FICTION: SUMMER’S BEST READS

FICTION: SUMMER’S BEST READS

Looking for a great read to take on holiday with you? We had our experts review some of the hottest books of 2024…
Published 18 Aug, 2024 10:15am
COLUMN: URDU LYRICS FROM DHAKA

COLUMN: URDU LYRICS FROM DHAKA

In the early years of post-Iqbal history of Urdu poetry, one finds two distinct streams flowing alongside each other — the two...
Published 18 Aug, 2024 10:01am
NON-FICTION: CAN AI CHANGE EDUCATION?

NON-FICTION: CAN AI CHANGE EDUCATION?

Khan Academy’s Salman Khan pens a book about the potential of Artificial Intelligence to make quality, personalised education...
Published 11 Aug, 2024 09:22am
FICTION: TALES FROM THE TONGUE

FICTION: TALES FROM THE TONGUE

A collection of orally transmitted Baloch folktales, fables and riddles, essays about folklore, and stories from around the world
Published 11 Aug, 2024 09:13am
AWARD: PRAISEWORTHY MAKES HISTORY

AWARD: PRAISEWORTHY MAKES HISTORY

Waanyi writer Alexis Wright and her magnum opus Praiseworthy have made history by winning this year’s Miles...
Published 11 Aug, 2024 09:08am
NON-FICTION: A BUREAUCRAT WRITES BACK

NON-FICTION: A BUREAUCRAT WRITES BACK

The memoirs of Salman Faruqui, regarded often as one of Pakistan’s ‘super-bureaucrats’ till his retirement, shed light on many...
Published 04 Aug, 2024 09:16am
POETRY: THE PAINTED IQBAL

POETRY: THE PAINTED IQBAL

An illustrated and translated version of Allama Iqbal’s Payaam-i-Mashriq opens up the great poet’s Persian work even for the...
Published 04 Aug, 2024 09:08am
COLUMN: WHY AZAD OVERLOOKED MOMIN

COLUMN: WHY AZAD OVERLOOKED MOMIN

It is perplexing that Muhammad Husain Azad (1830-1910), author of the scintillating, so-called ‘first history of Urdu poetry’,
Updated 05 Aug, 2024 05:14pm
FICTION: WITNESS TO TRAGEDIES

FICTION: WITNESS TO TRAGEDIES

Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, a Sri Lankan novel reads like a devastating and unputdownable memoir of a woman doctor...
Published 28 Jul, 2024 08:37am
FICTION: CAMPUS CHECKMATE

FICTION: CAMPUS CHECKMATE

A play about campus politics shines a light on how conflicts are resolved by the various political parties active among the...
Published 28 Jul, 2024 08:32am
NON-FICTION: BATTLES WITH MICROBES

NON-FICTION: BATTLES WITH MICROBES

A book by one of world’s leading clinical microbiologists is part memoir and part history lesson in infectious diseases and their
Published 28 Jul, 2024 08:23am
COLUMN: A PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM

COLUMN: A PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM

About a decade ago, when I was living in Karachi, I started thinking about how a lightweight, well-integrated public library model
Published 28 Jul, 2024 08:17am
FICTION: THE DARKNESS OF EMOTIONS

FICTION: THE DARKNESS OF EMOTIONS

Winner of the Asif Farrukhi Ilm-o-Agahi Award 2024, an Urdu novel about complex family dynamics explores the edgier psychology of
Published 22 Jul, 2024 08:13am
NON-FICTION: HOW TO SPEAK BETTER

NON-FICTION: HOW TO SPEAK BETTER

Media personality Mehdi Hasan delves into the history of the art of persuasion through history and brings his own experiences to
Published 22 Jul, 2024 08:08am
NON-FICTION: TO KASHMIR WITH LOVE

NON-FICTION: TO KASHMIR WITH LOVE

A collection of personal essays by a diaspora Kashmiri explores the intersections of tradition and modernity, familial...
Published 22 Jul, 2024 08:04am
COLUMN: MY LAHORE BOOKSHOPS

COLUMN: MY LAHORE BOOKSHOPS

In the 1990s, I first met Rana Abdul Rehman. His body was found a few days ago in a canal near Faisalabad.
Published 22 Jul, 2024 07:59am
POETRY: POETRY AS A VISUAL ART

POETRY: POETRY AS A VISUAL ART

Like Ghalib and Faiz before him, Sarmad Sehbai is a master of visual image construction in Urdu poetry and his new collection is
Updated 14 Jul, 2024 12:26pm
NON-FICTION: DEALING WITH EMOTIONS

NON-FICTION: DEALING WITH EMOTIONS

A pioneering Pakistani book provides self-care toolkits to foster emotional intelligence and mental well-being among adolescents
Published 14 Jul, 2024 08:57am
COLUMN: THE LITERARY COURTESAN

COLUMN: THE LITERARY COURTESAN

One Sunday morning in Karachi — I was eight — I heard my mother telling my father about a film she’d seen that Sunday morning,...
Published 14 Jul, 2024 08:51am
FICTION: THE PAIN OF SILENCES

FICTION: THE PAIN OF SILENCES

A sophomore novel is a poignant tale of three generations of a Pakistani immigrant family in the UK and about psychological wounds
Published 07 Jul, 2024 07:53am
NON-FICTION: EXCAVATING LOST HISTORY

NON-FICTION: EXCAVATING LOST HISTORY

A second book compiling articles mostly written for BBC Urdu challenges conventional narratives and presents perspectives that...
Published 07 Jul, 2024 07:46am
COLUMN: THE ELEPHANT IN ‘LIHAAF’

COLUMN: THE ELEPHANT IN ‘LIHAAF’

Since March 2020, I have been making a concerted effort to learn Urdu. Recently, I took GCSE exams in this beautiful, expressive
Published 07 Jul, 2024 07:42am
NON-FICTION: THE EMPIRE AND I

NON-FICTION: THE EMPIRE AND I

Broadcaster Mishal Husain’s memoir about her multi-rooted, multilingual and multi-religious family reads like a novel set against
Published 30 Jun, 2024 08:47am