Muneeza Shamsie's anthology And the World Changed Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women collection was first released in 2005 by Women Unlimited run by Ritu Menon in New Delhi.

Explaining how she compiled the anthology that contains work by 25 Pakistani women writers, Muneeza Shamsie says 'The idea was born when Ritu and I were talking about so many Pakistani women who are writing in English. Ritu said “Why don't you do an anthology?” And so I did.'

In 2006, Oxford University Press-Pakistan (OUP), under Ameena Saiyid, reprinted the Pakistani version of the anthology, and then, two years later, in 2008, the Feminist Press with the City University of New York released a US edition, with a new essay by Shamsie that contextualises the work of Pakistani women who write in English.

When the collection first came out, Muneeza Shamsie and several writers flew to New Delhi for the launch, and when the US edition was released last year, my grassroots arts organisation, Voices Breaking Boundaries, held a reading.

The Feminist Press at the City University of New York held a formal launch party last December, and over the last few months, it has co-sponsored several other readings, some in Manhattan and another one in San Francisco. The most recent reading was held this past January, co-sponsored by OUP, at The Second Floor (T2F) in Karachi.

Humera Afridi, Fawzia Afzal Khan, Sorayya Khan, Maniza Naqvi, Tahira Naqvi, and myself participated in the Feminist Press' December 2008 reading; Dohra Ahmed led the discussion with a thoughtful essay about the significance of the anthology.

At the event, each of us read short excerpts of our work to an audience of more than 60 people, and their response was heart-felt. Many audience members expressed appreciation for having access to the works published in the collection.

Once the moderated discussion ended, however, there was a heated conversation about the violence that had unfolded in Mumbai a week prior to the reading. On the whole, the organisers, participants and audience members all commented on how wonderful the evening had been, and most audience members left the gathering in possession of signed copies of the collection.

A month later, another event was held, this time in Karachi at T2F. Nayyara Rahman, Fehmida Riaz, Bina Shah, Kamila Shamsie, Muneeza Shamsie, and myself participated in the reading and discussion entitled 'Why We Write in English' (based on Muneeza Shamsie's new introduction to the New York edition's anthology). Ameena Saiyid from OUP introduced the evening, and T2F's director Sabeen Mahmud moderated the discussion.

More than 150 audience members of all ages packed tightly into the space, and listened closely to excerpts of works. As in New York, the discussion in Karachi was also heated, this time around the issue of language. Fehmida Riaz said 'I write mostly in Urdu, but I understand that English is more widely read around the world.'

Most of us on the panel agreed that while English has a wider global readership, it's important for our work to also be read in Pakistan, and that translation (both ways) could play a pivotal role in easing some of the tensions that arise around language choice.

Khurram Sohail, an Urdu reporter for Aaj Kal, interviewed some of us for a regular column in which he explores the tension between English and Urdu. Rather than focus on anger, he said, he wants to examine why Pakistanis have trouble integrating languages, as in Europe, where people have high literacy in more than four languages.

Ultimately, one has to accept that throughout the subcontinent language is a complex issue. The fact that Urdu is Pakistan's national language but that English is used by the government — and that both languages are spoken by groups not representative of the country's majority — are paradoxical realities. And then, the act of selecting and publishing work by women is itself a political act.

The fact that the anthology is a collection of writings in English, should not take away from the significance of the anthology. Bapsi Sidhwa, who was unable to attend most of the book launches (except for the one in Houston), says 'It's encouraging that Feminist Press and Kali focus only on women, and that Muneeza Shamsie put this anthology together... Pakistani women have a difficult struggle.'

Today, more than ever — given what's happening in Swat and in the northern region — it's imperative that Pakistani women's voices be heard, and that more women write and publish in all of the languages spoken around the country.

And the World Changed should be celebrated for its content and for what it represents, and each year many more such anthologies should be compiled, translated, and published in all the languages spoken in and around Pakistan.