Literary Fiction from Pakistan: The Oxford Book of Urdu Short Stories

Description

Some of the best Urdu short stories, from the earliest to contemporary works, come together in this anthology; all in brand new translations.

This anthology brings together twenty of the most memorable Urdu short stories in a distinctive selection of acclaimed authors who range from the earliest stalwarts to the most renowned contemporary writers of Urdu literature. The stories have been selected for their literary merit as well as their appeal to general readers. At least two of the authors (Zaheer Babar and Hayatullah Ansari) included in this collection have been neglected by other anthologists and translators, although, their work is indisputably of classic stature.

Some of the stories included here are available in different anthologies in other translations, but there are also several that have been translated for the first time, specifically for this volume. The book demonstrates the range of the genre in Urdu.

Reviews

“This anthology is a collection of twenty-two stories by seventeen writers, chosen by Amina Azfar. All the stories in it fall in the category of the very best. Amina Azfar has accomplished the difficult tasks of selection and translation with competence and hard work. She has ensured that the soul of every story is entirely grasped by its translation; and it appears to the reader that the stories were originally written in English. It is possible that lovers of short stories may say that the works of some writers have been left out. Perhaps the reason for this is that Amina Azfar has intended them for a subsequent volume.”

– Dr Jamil Jalibi Renowned critic and scholar of Urdu, author of Tarikh-i adab-i Urdu (History of Urdu Literature) (4 vols.), former Vice-Chancellor, University of Karachi, Pakistan, and former Chairman, Muqtadira Qaumi Zuban (National Language Authority), Pakistan

“With this well-selected collection of 22 stories, 6 of them by women, Azfar aims to survey the Urdu short-story tradition. Many of the younger writers have abandoned the traditional, omniscient third-person narrator in favor of first-person narratives and techniques such as symbolism, surrealism, and magical realism. The translations are fluent and idiomatic, with a slight flavor of South Asian English that is entirely appropriate. A solid addition to South Asian literature collections.”

– W. L. Hanaway, Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania