LAHORE : Renowned writer, translator and US-based educationist, Tahira Naqvi launched her two books depicting the issues of migration, identity, memory, cultural clash and the complexities of human relationships in a very sensitive, profound and heart-wrenching manner.
Born in Lahore, Tahira Naqvi completed her early education and training here and later she moved to the United States, where she started teaching English literature at Western Connecticut State University as well as Urdu language and literature at world-class institutions such as New York University and Columbia University.
The greatest strength of the collection was its balanced and intelligent style. She describes serious topics with light humour and subtlety, which makes the narrative touch the heart instead of being burdensome. Nostalgia, cultural clashes and the complexities of human relationships are reflected beautifully in her writings.
She not only introduced Pakistani culture to the Western world but also played a key role in the global promotion of Urdu literature.
The most prominent aspect of her literary contributions was translation. She translated selected works of renowned Urdu writers — Saadat Hasan Manto, Khadija Mastur, HajraMasroor, FehmidaRiaz and IsmatChughtai — into English. These translations were a complete transmission of the cultural depth, psychological nuances and intellectual meaning of the original text. Her collection of fiction, ‘Dying in a strange country, Attar of Roses and Other Stories of Pakistan, as well as the novels, ‘The History Teacher of Lahore’ and ‘The Cry of the Nightingale’, are clear manifestations of her creative abilities.
Talking to The News, she said in her writings she described migration, identity, memory, cultural clash and the complexities of human relationships in a very sensitive, profound and heart-wrenching manner. She presented these topics in such a smooth and effective style that the reader feels like she was travelling with these characters.
She said the recently launched two books were ‘Dying in a strange country’ and ‘Salar-e-Azam Ki Khizan’. The second book was an Urdu translation of the famous novel ‘The Autumn of the Patriarch’ written by the great novelist of Latin American literature Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Talking about her book ‘Dying in a strange country’, she said this book contained collection of fiction that specifically focuses on the lives, feelings and psychological struggles of Pakistani-American immigrants. These stories represent people who were caught between two different cultures.
On one side were memories of the past, the streets of Lahore, family ties and a deep attachment to the homeland, and on the other side were the demands of a new land, the search for a new identity and the daily struggle. In these stories, the concept of ‘return’ repeatedly emerges as an internal conflict. ‘Salar-e-Azam Ki Khizan’ was an Urdu translation of the famous novel The Autumn of the Patriarch by the great novelist of Latin American literature Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The novel is actually the story of an absolute ruler who is apparently at the peak of power but suffers from severe loneliness, fear and decline from within and dictatorship, power, corruption and human weaknesses are presented in great depth in this novel.
