Intizar Husain

About Intizar Husain

Intizar Husain, who migrated to Lahore in 1947 when he was in his early twenties, was one of the leading literary figures in Pakistan. He wrote novels, short stories, poetry and nonfiction in Urdu, as also literary columns for the newspapers, Dawn and Daily Express. His novel, Basti was translated into English by Francis Pritchett and shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. Other works accessible in English include the collections of his short stories, Leaves and Other Stories, translated by Alok Bhalla and Vishwamitter Adil, Indus, 1993; The Seventh Door, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998; and most recently, The Death of Sheherzad, translated by Rakhshanda Jalil, HarperCollins, 2014. His numerous other works include Jataka Tales and the novel, Aagay Sumandar Hai, 1995, translated by Rakhshanda Jalil as The Sea Lies Ahead, HarperCollins, 2015, that contrasts the spiralling urban violence of contemporary Karachi with a vision of the lost Islamic realm of al-Andalus in modern Spain. He received many awards in his lifetime, among the most prestigious being the Sitara-i-Imtiaz from the President of Pakistan. He received a lifetime achievement award at the 2013 Lahore Literary Festival. Intizar Husain died in 2016.