Decolonize Your Bookshelf: Pakistani Literature Edition

Recommendations and Talking about Pakistani publishing hardships

Sep 23, 2024

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It cannot possibly get gloomier any quicker! Autumn has been teasing me here in Pakistan, where the weather cannot decide whether it will let us open fans, or if that will give us a massive month-long cold. Regardless, hi! I’m bakhtawar and I write Stories and States alongside this publication.

For those of you not familiar with me, I write essays related to the intersection between literature, morality, and culture to live more mindfully. This edition of Decolonize your Bookshelf will be no different. I want to use this opportunity to shine a light on some Pakistani Literature, along with a small insight into the hardships Pakistani English writers face.

A Discussion

The Pakistani publishing landscape is scarce, and the writing community a booming organ with brilliant words that have waited and waited to express themselves. Despite the mismatch, we are very persistent.

While a lot of the problems we face regarding these issues are vastly internal instabilities within the country, the solutions might be found within the global community. Today, most of you read this newsletter from all over the world. That is powerful.

So while some of today’s recommendations might be hard to find, I believe the spotlight is necessary. I am writing about them here to make you aware that this literature exists, and has crucial things to say. If it is just this awareness I am able to insight, I will be happy, and we will have achieved a goal.

Without any further delay, enjoy!

Fiction

The Scatter Here Is Too Great by Bilal Tanveer (2015)

This book, often regarded as a novel-in-stories, explores the lives of ordinary yet vastly different characters whose paths converge just as a deadly bomb-blast affects them all. We explore:

an old communist poet; his wealthy, middle-aged son; a young man caught in an unpleasant, dead-end job; a girl who spins engaging tales to conceal her heartbreak; and a grief-stricken writer, who struggles to make sense of this devastating tragedy.

At the end, the novel embodies the power of words and storytelling amidst systemic violence. It highlights the importance of relationships and the tiny insignificant things that keep them from flourishing. How at the end, we have stories and each other, and what else can we possibly ask for?

Biryani and Tahchin by Raazia Sajid (2019)

Biryani and Tahchin is a story written out of love and passion. Raazia Sajid, whose family is from Karachi, grew up in Oman seeing the ideals, culture, and prejudices that Pakistani girls face. That background, with her travel to Iran as a student, resulted in this story.

The book follows a young widow, studying in Iran and coming of age as she realises it’s not too late for her—she might just be living the life she always dreamed of. What then, when love knocks on her door?

Raazia and I met after the LUMS Young Writers Workshop in Lahore, coincidentally, hosted by Bilal Tanveer. Can you believe I was so ignorant of all these hidden treasure troves of Pakistani Literature before that?

An exclusive message from Raazia:

I read some life-touching books until my twenties, but somehow they always seemed to be about 'others'. White European/American men, or at most privileged people whose countries feature prominently in the news (never for good reasons), and who had shed their skin to go live in a developed country, a country that 'counted'.
My first novel, Biryani and Tahchin (2024), is about a Pakistani girl with ambitions who is suddenly widowed and finds herself living in Tehran, Iran. She realises to her surprise that not only is she living the life she's always wanted, but that she can, in fact, make it on her own.
I've gotten to experience both these countries, which is why you need to read this book. You need to know the daily struggles of Pakistani youth, and how life in Iran isn't all that different from your own. Their stories count.

A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif (2009)

Banned book alert! That’s how you know it’s good.

The book, a satire piece, is written about the 1988 aircraft crash that killed Zia-Ul-Haq (the sixth president). This book dissects corruption, global politics, and Islamism with a humorous tone. The Urdu edition of the novel was seized in 2020 (yes,that recently), highlighting the precarious nature of freedom of speech in Pakistan.

Muhammad Hanif is an established writer in the international community, and this book, more widely available than the above two, is a must to understand Pakistani voices.

No Funeral for Nazia by Taha Kehar (2024)

What do you think of unfinished business? What about unfinished business after death? This book explores Nazia’s story, a famous author who, in her last days, sets out to write instructions of what is to be done after death.

There will be no funeral for Nazia, only a party, with six specific guests invited. The evening unfolds, and so do secrets of the past as we witness an unforgettable evening.

Have some mystery and suspense to end this recommendations list with.

Check out AWC reader recommendations from our last book post!

“Permission to Come Home” by Jenny T. Wang (Louisa Wah)

“Stay True” by Hua Hsu, “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin (William Chen)

“Pachinko” by Min Jin Lee (recommended by many!)

“The Vanished (Ang Nawawala)” by Chuckberry Pascual, “Back from the Crocodile’s Belly: Philippine Babaylan Studies & The Struggle for Indigenous Memory” by S. Lily Mendoza and Leny Mendoza Strobel (Cheshir)

“Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Sandra Serrano)

“When the Emperor was Divine” by Julie Otsuka & “Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong” (Kate Dusto)

“Crying in Hmart” by Michelle Zauner & “Beasts of a Little Land” by Juhea Kim (Sarah May Grunwald)