A recent biography resurrects the aura around Akhtar Shirani, one of Urdu’s most influential but often forgotten romantic poets
Published 30 Nov, 2025 06:41am
A debut novella offers a biting critique on the conventional wisdom that views relationships as antidotes to loneliness
Published 30 Nov, 2025 06:41am
Ten festivals in, the Adab Festival has settled into its own personality. It is dense, loud, packed, informal and full of people
Published 30 Nov, 2025 06:41am
I have written in these pages before about my forays into learning Urdu. Now I think through the need for mentors in...
Published 23 Nov, 2025 05:54am
David Szalay’s Flesh, which has won the Booker Prize this year, is a deeply affecting novel about masculinity
Published 23 Nov, 2025 05:54am
Writers Fatima Ijaz and Taha Kehar’s email correspondence with each other about a range of topics evokes a time long before email
Published 23 Nov, 2025 05:54am
Ghazi sahib’s fictional prose is remarkably creative, engaging and captivating, allowing it to still resonate with readers.
Updated 25 Nov, 2025 05:30pm
Celebrated author and activist Arundhati Roy attempts to come to grips with her complex relationship with her mother after her...
Published 16 Nov, 2025 07:41am
A sophomore novel about an ambitious and ruthless young woman trying to rise above poverty and confusing values captures womanhood
Published 16 Nov, 2025 07:38am
The Zeenat Haroon Rashid Writing Prize for Women has announced that the award for 2025 goes to writer Sidra Nisar ...
Published 16 Nov, 2025 07:32am
A knowledgeable treatise written in chaste Urdu attempts to explore scientific, philosophical and religious ideas about the place
Published 16 Nov, 2025 07:32am
Scholar, writer and researcher Dr Tariq Rahman has penned his highly enjoyable memoirs, which tell all about his and his family’s
Published 09 Nov, 2025 08:32am
A masterful translation of French novelist Honore de Balzac’s 1831 novel A Woman of Thirty opens up a new world of literature for
Published 09 Nov, 2025 08:29am
November 9 is Iqbal Day every year. But there is still debate about Allama Iqbal’s actual date and year of birth.
Updated 09 Nov, 2025 10:37am
During one of my story-building workshops in a public school in Larkana, in which I was tasked to help Grade 9 and 10 girls write
Published 09 Nov, 2025 08:20am
Professor Audrey Truschke’s high-level introduction to the long history of the Indian Subcontinent is not just a lucid reference
Published 02 Nov, 2025 09:38am
Symbols, mystery and thrills — Dan Brown’s latest novel has two academics and lovers encountering all kinds of trouble as they run
Published 02 Nov, 2025 09:29am
The life story of a well-known psychiatrist provides insight into the healthcare and education system of Pakistan as well as its
Updated 02 Nov, 2025 07:19pm
A door creaks shut, unexpectedly; a footstep is heard on the stair; a face seen at the window. The haunted house is ...
Published 02 Nov, 2025 09:14am
A landmark comparative study of the poetry of Meer Anees places him not merely as a regional poet of lamentation but as a member
Published 26 Oct, 2025 08:35am
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s posthumously published, unfinished novella, despite its shortcomings, carries his deep understanding of
Published 26 Oct, 2025 08:28am
A woman dealing with bipolar disorder pens a book that is part autobiography and part a discourse on the state of mental health
Published 26 Oct, 2025 08:20am
In Lahore, during the first Test of the current Pakistan-South Africa cricket series, spinner Noman Ali from ...
Published 26 Oct, 2025 08:08am
The grand tales of Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai, who won the Nobel prize for literature 2025, speak to our alienated...
Published 19 Oct, 2025 10:08am
The English translations of three stories from A.R. Khatoon’s Kahaniyan, preserve the tradition of telling fantastical bedtime...
Published 19 Oct, 2025 10:01am
Alamgir Hashmi’s 12th collection of verse consists of diverse, lyrical English poems that combine elegance and subtlety with...
Published 19 Oct, 2025 09:55am
In 1639, in the 11th year of his reign, the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan took the decision to build a new capital at...
Published 19 Oct, 2025 09:51am
A beautifully produced coffee table book attempts to unravel the mystery of the artist and his creative output with essays by
Updated 12 Oct, 2025 08:56am
Despite some analytical weaknesses, a new book about tourism succeeds as an intellectual provocation, challenging readers to
Updated 12 Oct, 2025 08:55am
A collection of short stories, anecdotes and vignettes in English and Urdu imparts a quiet wisdom accrued over decades
Updated 12 Oct, 2025 08:55am
Just like society needs structure and laws to keep diverse groups of people together, the Book Club too, must have a supervising
Updated 12 Oct, 2025 11:31am
A new book offers sharp, engaging and valuable insights about developmental paths, and communicates complex ideas in an easily...
Published 05 Oct, 2025 09:23am
The sequel and concluding part of a duology about magic and subversion feels rushed, flat, and largely unengaging
Published 05 Oct, 2025 09:18am
Muneeza Shamsie’s latest anthology of Pakistani English language literature provides access to work that may now be hard to access
Published 05 Oct, 2025 09:12am
It was embarrassing to watch what happened in the ACC Asia Cup 2025 in the three games that Pakistan and India ...
Published 05 Oct, 2025 09:02am
In Ferdowsnama, Shandana Minhas has given us a brilliant novel set in the Mughal era that is alternately chilling and grim...
Published 28 Sep, 2025 07:34am
A collection of articles focuses on constitutional deviations by a combination of powerful military and bureaucratic forces that
Published 28 Sep, 2025 07:30am
A biography of director and producer Raj Khosla is an enriching narrative about a multi-talented filmmaker who deserves far more
Published 28 Sep, 2025 07:25am
Many years ago, an editor at Critical Muslim asked me to contribute an essay to an issue she was preparing, on the...
Published 28 Sep, 2025 07:23am
The fourth in a quartet of books exploring the relationship between Islam and the West, Akbar S. Ahmed’s latest dwells upon the
Published 21 Sep, 2025 10:21am
Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s latest novel is about four women whose lives are interconnected and spans the US...
Published 21 Sep, 2025 10:14am
An English translation of an almost 260-year-old classic offers profound insights into the intricate historical trajectory...
Published 21 Sep, 2025 10:06am
In her memoir Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati Roy recounts how literary agent David Godwin flew from Britain to...
Published 21 Sep, 2025 09:48am
A recent book by a respected academic that traces the Middle East’s history from the colonial era to the present day in a clear...
Published 14 Sep, 2025 09:26am
A debut English novel provides a genuine window into the the trials and tribulations of a typical low-income Pakistani male but is
Published 14 Sep, 2025 09:14am
Urdu poetry seems to be novelist, translator and journalist Kashif Raza’s first love and he proves it with his latest collection
Updated 14 Sep, 2025 12:28pm
In Pakistan, like some other similar countries, the official narrative takes huge precedence over introducing students and people
Published 14 Sep, 2025 08:56am
Atish Taseer’s latest memoir/travelogue is a poetic and philosophical exploration of the condition of modern man, in a world...
Published 07 Sep, 2025 09:50am
A psychological thriller focuses on the dark side of female friendship and the world of influencers, where ‘cancel culture’ is
Published 07 Sep, 2025 09:46am
As the country celebrates its Air Force Day today, a timely book provides the story of the Pakistan Air Force, from its
Published 07 Sep, 2025 09:36am
One can presume that Samuel Johnson, as an author and the compiler of a dictionary, no less, understood the meaning...
Published 07 Sep, 2025 09:28am
Zehra Nigah’s latest collection of poetry — only her fifth ever — deals often with themes of home, ageing, loneliness and the...
Published 31 Aug, 2025 09:35am
Al Pacino’s memoir not only revisits the iconic characters essayed by one of the greatest actors of Hollywood but also explores...
Published 31 Aug, 2025 09:18am
A collection of essays traces the repercussions of Partition that carry an impact on the Subcontinent’s language, culture...
Published 31 Aug, 2025 09:00am
The glorious third sultan of the Ghaznavid dynasty Mahmud (r. 998-1030), who had conquered a vast territory from the Oxus
Published 31 Aug, 2025 08:54am
An anthology of personal essays by a cross-section of Pakistanis about the meaning of identity and home varies in tone but is
Published 24 Aug, 2025 09:30am
A quiet, introspective debut novel speaks to the emotional undercurrents many of us carry from childhood
Published 24 Aug, 2025 09:17am
A new book looks at the phenomenon of brain drain from Pakistan, analyses the reasons behind it and details the consequences the
Published 24 Aug, 2025 09:13am
In this age of sadness, what makes me happy is reading those who are younger than me. Not just younger, more talented, more astute
Published 24 Aug, 2025 09:03am
Leila Aboulela’s portrayal of a woman coming to terms with the loss of her spouse in an unfamiliar culture in her latest novel is
Published 17 Aug, 2025 09:32am
The result of years of exhaustive research, a self-published book provides readers with a closer look at the 2002 Indian Gujarat
Published 17 Aug, 2025 09:01am
A new book documents an untold story of courage and unwavering commitment during one of the most turbulent periods in the...
Published 17 Aug, 2025 08:57am
Poets-writers do not function in a vacuum, they belong to a milieu, have a circle of friends and rivals and an audience of...
Published 17 Aug, 2025 08:51am
Dreams, colonisation, relationships, literary puzzles and mortality — Nasir Abbas Nayyar’s collection of short stories attempts to
Published 10 Aug, 2025 08:46am
The winner of the International Booker Prize this year is a collection of powerful short stories about Muslim women written in...
Published 10 Aug, 2025 08:41am
British scholar Dr Robert Sampson has dedicated his life to teaching and learning from Pakhtuns. An educational...
Published 10 Aug, 2025 08:11am
According to one strand of history, slavery was abolished when Europeans found their conscience. According to...
Published 10 Aug, 2025 08:07am
A book of searing honesty by an Arab journalist gives words to the frustration felt by millions around the world at the lopsided
Published 03 Aug, 2025 08:21am
