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Here are 12 brilliant Pakistani women writers whose books need to be added to your TBR, adding significant value to contemporary literature.
Pakistan is a land shrouded with stereotypes, especially from the Indian perspective. But where there are humans, there is talent, and Pakistani women writers have been making their presence felt in the global scenario for quite a while now. Hence, we bring you 10 Pakistani women writers who you should start reading ASAP!
Belonging to the Bhutto clan, Fatima Bhutto is now a distinguished author of three novels. Her novel The Shadow of the Crescent Moon has earned critical acclaim internationally. Her latest book, Songs of Blood and Sword is a memoir of her father, Murtaza Bhutto, who was assassinated in 1996.
Author of the award-winning book, Saffron Dreams, Shaila Abdullah has received multiple awards for her work. She has written five books and has received appreciation for the same. She writes about Pakistani women, her culture, and the South Asian narrative in America.
Author of Home Fire, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2017, Kamila Shamsie is a famous Pakistani novelist. Daughter of the famous journalist, Muneeza Shamsie, she has penned seven books. All of which have grabbed attention worldwide. She has received multiple awards and also writes short stories.
Her first novel ever, The Writing On My Forehead which was published in 2010, has been extremely successful in grabbing the readers’ attention. She has written two books, her second being The Sweetness Of Tears which came shortly after her first in 2011. Haji’s work is attracting attention and it’ll be novel to see more of it.
Chosen as the best writer of 2014 by OK! Pakistan, Bina Shah has authored 4 novels and multiple short stories. Her first novel Where They Dream in Blue was published in 2001. Her latest is A Season for Martyrs, published in 2014 acquired critical appreciation.
Author of the famous book Karachi, You’re Killing Me!, published in 2014 was Saba Imtiaz’s debut novel. The book had an optimistic review and was later adapted into the Bollywood movie Noor, starring Sonakshi Sinha. There are talks of her second novel but nothing has been officially announced yet.
Author of only two books yet, Rafia Zakaria has still managed to make her voice heard and her words read. Her debut novel The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan published in 2015, was a mix of personal and political themes and was successful in gaining critical acclaim. Her latest work, Veil published recently in September 2017 is the first part of her collection of books called Object Lessons.
Her debut novel, Nobody Killed Her (read the review here) published in 2015, is a thrilling political tale which was pretty successful in its release. She has also been published in multiple literary journals and anthologies. Apart from that, she also writes short stories.
Ayesha Tariq is the author of a different kind of literature, i.e., a graphic novel called Sarah: The Suppressed Anger Of The Pakistani Obedient Daughter, which vents the angst of Pakistani daughters who go through discrimination and oppression in their own houses. This might say a ‘Pakistani’ daughter, but the story can be relatable to any teenage girl in South Asia. Read the review here.
Born in Lahore, Uzma Aslam Khan authored five novels. Her first work, The Story of Noble Rot, was published in 2001. Her fifth novel which was published in 2019, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali, won the 9th UBL Literary Awards 2020 Best English Fiction category.
Sana Munir is a Lahore-based author. Her work ‘Unfettered Wings: Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary Women’ revolves around Pakistani women from different social and economic backgrounds. She deeply believes in the idea of feminism, is vocal about her beliefs and the readers can sense that from her works.
‘Annie’ Ali Khan was a Pakistani model, computer engineer, freelance journalist and author. Her life was tragically cut short in 2018 depriving the literary community of her wonderful talent. Khan’s only novel ‘Sita Under The Crescent Moon’ was published by Simon and Schuster posthumously in 2019.
These ladies are just a small sample from a lot of more such talented authors who are just waiting to take the literary world by storm if only they are able to study and fly high!
Image source: pixabay
New Delhi, India I like to read, write, and talk. A feminist through and through, with a soft spot for chocolate. read more...
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