Newspaper - Books & Authors - June 12, 2026

ESSAY: The limits of empathy

Adam Smith, Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Bloom all value empathy. Yet each argue that feeling another’s pain is only the starting

Published 07 Jun, 2026 05:18am

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NON-FICTION: Can Pakistan be enlightened?

A book argues Pakistan can overcome its challenges by embracing the values of the European Enlightenment, but offers oft-repeated

Published 07 Jun, 2026 05:18am

POETRY: The rescue of Andromeda

A debut collection of poems offers moving meditations on the intricate role of identity and individuality in the journey

Published 07 Jun, 2026 05:18am

NON-FICTION: The enigma of Marilyn

Part biography, part investigation, a fast-paced account retraces Marilyn Monroe’s journey from troubled orphan to global

Published 07 Jun, 2026 05:18am

COLUMN: RETHINKING EPIDEMICS

In May 2026, the World Health Organisation declared Ebola in DR Congo and Uganda a “public health emergency of...

Published 31 May, 2026 06:58am

NON-FICTION: THE ORANGE CITY

Academics, architects, artists and activists reflect on how a major transport project can reshape neighbourhoods and redefine

Published 31 May, 2026 06:58am

NON-FICTION: MUHAMMADI BEGUM IN OXFORD

A fascinating collection of diary entries by a young Muslim Indian woman studying in Britain in the 1930s paints a picture

Published 31 May, 2026 06:58am

FICTION: ECHOES FROM THE STEPWELL

With memorable characters, vibrant landscapes and sharply tuned prose, the latest collection of Urdu short stories from Ali

Published 31 May, 2026 06:58am

NON-FICTION: A FOUNDATION REIMAGINED

An extraordinary collaboration between an art curator and an artist transforms the humble Urdu qaida into a work of art — one

Published 24 May, 2026 08:13am

FICTION: DEMONS IN THE DARK

A debut collection blends Pakistani folklore, supernatural beings and psychological dread into engrossing and suspenseful horror

Published 24 May, 2026 08:13am

NON-FICTION: MEMORIES OF A CITY

An Urdu book about Karachi contains a treasure of historical facts about the metropolis and has nostalgia woven into every line

Published 24 May, 2026 08:13am

COLUMN: KHALIFAH AND THE GITA

Hakim blends the Sanskrit names, the Persian terms and the Hindustani idiom in such a way that the translation reads like a

Published 24 May, 2026 08:13am

NON-FICTION: HOUSE OF GRIFTERS?

An unauthorised biography of the former Duke and Duchess of York attempts a sweeping exposé of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Published 17 May, 2026 08:09am

COLUMN: THE COSMOS OF SECONDHAND BOOKS

The algorithm that through various combinations of variety and chance puts together the universe of books one finds...

Published 17 May, 2026 08:09am

NON-FICTION: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SALIMA

In her recently published memoir, the multi-talented Salima Hashmi reflects on her famous family, loss, art, activism

Published 17 May, 2026 08:09am

FICTION: MURDERS AND MYSTICISM

A novel blends suspense, trauma and Sufi philosophy into an ambitious thriller that is marred by an inconsistent style

Published 17 May, 2026 08:09am

COLUMN: JAUN ELIA’S JANUS FACE

In recent years, we have seen emerging on the literary horizon of the Urdu world a sustained Jaun Elia frenzy among...

Updated 10 May, 2026 08:54am

NON-FICTION: WOMEN BUILDING COMMUNITIES

Across continents, Khoja Shia Ismaili women stitch together community, memory and belonging in this rich ethnographic account

Updated 10 May, 2026 08:51am

FICTION: SHADOWS OF THE PAST

Across time and space, four friends discover that the past is not something left behind — but something that shapes the present

Updated 10 May, 2026 08:56am

NON-FICTION: AFTER THE DOUBLE FAULT

Former tennis champion Boris Becker recounts his dramatic fall from grace and the lessons he learned behind bars in a new memoir

Updated 10 May, 2026 08:55am

NON-FICTION: THE SILENCE OF STATELESSNESS

A book of rare moral clarity and scholarly courage excavates the internment of over 80,000 Bengalis in Pakistan after the...

Published 03 May, 2026 09:11am

FICTION: STORIES TO SPEND TIME WITH

A collection of Urdu short stories gathers a cast of lively characters from rural Sindh, shaping stories that blur the line...

Published 03 May, 2026 09:00am

FICTION: DESCENT INTO HELL

After an academic adviser is blown up in a magical experiment, two of his students make a perilous journey to the underworld to

Published 03 May, 2026 08:57am

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: ‘NOVEL-WRITING MACHINES’

Thousands of AI-written, edited or ‘polished’ books are being sold – an eerie echo of Orwell’s 1984

Published 03 May, 2026 08:55am

NON-FICTION: HUMANITY AGAINST THE MACHINE

A collection of essays takes aim at the pursuit of limitless growth, the constant drive to master nature and the expanding...

Published 26 Apr, 2026 12:43pm

FICTION: NUGGETS FROM THE EVERYDAY

A debut collection of 24 Urdu short stories by a medical practitioner and academic are thought-provoking and wise observations...

Published 26 Apr, 2026 12:38pm

NON-FICTION: LOOK BACK IN TRIBUTE

A collection of personal sketches of renowned figures from history and current times in Urdu encourages readers not just to...

Published 26 Apr, 2026 12:32pm

COLUMN: THE CONSTRICTED HEART

On an unseasonably cold November night in 2022, a pain, a dull burn, gripped my chest in what felt like a constriction, an uneasy

Published 26 Apr, 2026 12:18pm

FICTION: WRESTING CONTROL OF THE GRANARY

The English translation of late Fahmida Riaz’s novel Qila-i-Faramoshi offers the Anglophone world a window into ancient Persian...

Published 19 Apr, 2026 11:49am

NON-FICTION: ETHNIC COHESION AND DEVELOPMENT

A brief treatise by a well-known Pakistani economist explores the impact of ethnic friction on the success or failure of nations

Published 19 Apr, 2026 11:57am

COLUMN: BOOKSTORES ARE FOREVER

The Argentinian genius of a writer Jorge Luis Borges once said: “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a...

Published 12 Apr, 2026 06:08am

FICTION: THE STAR THAT DIMMED

A new Urdu novel imagines the life of Ruttie Jinnah, bringing to life a woman lost in the margins of history and rescuing her from

Updated 19 Apr, 2026 12:15pm

COLUMN: POETRY OF THE MIND

Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Persian language poets in Iran and India established a parallel universe of...

Published 19 Apr, 2026 11:54am

FICTION: TALES OF THE CITY

A gripping collection of Urdu short stories feature Karachi as a vibrant metropolis in which individuals from diverse communities

Published 12 Apr, 2026 06:08am

NON-FICTION: TRAPPED BY HISTORY?

A recent book attempts to decode the patterns of power and politics in Pakistan by connecting these dynamics with examples from

Published 12 Apr, 2026 06:08am