Your latest book, Between You, Me and the Four Walls, touches upon the darkness in the high life. Why do you choose to look at Pakistani society through the lens of a gossipy socialite?

After I wrote The End of Innocence, which was a story set in rural Pakistan in 1971 and written in a completely different vein from the Butterfly series, I wanted to write about contemporary urban Pakistan in a light-hearted, but not superficial, manner. I chose to make the social butterfly my protagonist, because she is clueless and self-absorbed in the way privileged people can be, but at the same time she is endearing, entertaining and an unwittingly honest witness to her times. Because Between You, Me and the Four Walls is confessional and the Butterfly is so clearly flawed herself, she can make sharp observations without raising people’s hackles. If I had tried to do ‘straight’ social commentary I ran the risk of sounding preachy and boring and no one would have read it. And quite rightly so!

Your stories are satirical commentary on Pakistani politics, both household and national. How far do you think society has come, and how much further do we have to go?

I am not a social scientist, nor am I an activist, so I can’t really offer any prescriptions about social developments and political fixes. I am a writer and the main purpose of my work is to represent society as truthfully as I can. That’s all.

London-based writer Moni Mohsin has long been sending readers into fits of laughter with her stories and characters that brim with humour, satire and a contemplative edge — her book The Impeccable Integrity of Ruby R. was recently published in Pakistan by Reverie and was also excerpted in this magazine. She is also now writing her celebrated column ‘The Diary of Social Butterfly’ for these pages. Questioning Pakistani perspectives and conventions with five books that all hit close to home, in the middle of charming audiences over two weekends of lit-fests, the Butterfly makes a flit-stop at Eos to share her opinions about anything and everything

As an apparently light-hearted read with no ‘hefty, serious issues’ being addressed, the social commentary of the Butterfly series is dismissed, the books termed ‘chick-lit’. As an author, do you think it is necessary to validate what you write?

It’s entirely up to readers how they read the series. While I think the Butterfly books are hard-hitting social and political commentary in which I try to talk about important issues such as climate change, minority rights, economic downturns and sexual harassment, I can’t control how readers engage with them. Once I have finished writing the book, the book belongs to the readers. They read it as they choose. And if they respond to it as humorous chick-lit, that’s fine too.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm, for example, is political satire about totalitarianism. But some readers read it as a humorous fable about animals and I read somewhere that Orwell was okay with that, too. The Impeccable Integrity of Ruby R. is about the interplay of class, power and gender in modern day Pakistan but really, it’s up to readers to make of it what they will. As long as they engage with my work, I’m happy.

A large amount of your work is based in Pakistan where many art forms — including books — are vulnerable to bans. What is your stance on this?

I don’t think books, films and art should be banned. I was very sorry when Malala Yousafzai’s book was banned in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. And when the film Joyland was banned in Punjab. But when a society bans a work of art, it does say something — it says that those works are making powerful people uncomfortable. And artists are addressing issues that power elites would rather keep under wraps.

What do you think about the trade ban between Pakistan and India, because of which Pakistani authors are increasingly signing with Pakistani publishers? How has your experience with Reverie been?

My experience with Reverie has been a wonderful surprise. The silver lining to the cloud that is the trade ban between Pakistan and India is that it has forced Pakistani publishers to step up. We are now getting the artwork and creatives done here and launching books with social media campaigns in Lahore and Karachi. All of these are extremely encouraging steps. I’m looking forward to stronger marketing campaigns and better distribution channels, so that readers in the smaller towns can also find books easily. I also think we need more professional proofreaders and copy editors and reviewers, but I am confident that all that will happen. The most important thing is that we have begun.

What is your advice to the publishing industry, the authors and editors?

There is a writing competition, the Zeenat Haroon Rashid (ZHR) Writing Prize for Women, a brainchild of Syra Vahidy, that invites writing from Pakistani women. The shortlisted pieces are uploaded on the competition’s website where I got to read a lot of exciting stuff. I was really impressed by the quality, depth, honesty and style of the submissions. It is immensely inspiring that so many young women are writing serious fiction and non-fiction.

This makes me very hopeful about the Pakistani writing landscape, and I hope these new writers find publishing opportunities that will get their voices out and across. My own journey with the Butterfly series began when an Indian editor, after reading my columns in The Friday Times, told me they could be a book. Because of some really canny publishing and astute marketing, it went on to do well and now, Between You, Me and the Four Walls is the fourth iteration of that series.

I would like to see Pakistani editors read and encourage budding authors, give them strong and, if possible, encouraging feedback. It has to be a collaborative effort, rather than just taking on a text and accepting or rejecting it. Writing is a solitary and patient business. It takes time. There is uncertainty, both economic and creative. And a great editor has to hold the writer’s hand through that journey and help them tap their potential.

The writer is a communications professional/ content creator.

She can be reached at sara.amj@hotmail.co.uk

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, February 26th, 2023