Intizar Husain

Master of modern Urdu fiction; first Pakistani shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize

UrduNovelist and short-story writer

Life

Intizar Husain was born in a small town in Uttar Pradesh and migrated to Lahore in 1947. He worked as a journalist and wrote literary columns, including for the newspaper Dawn, for many years.

His fiction draws on ancient Indian, Buddhist and Islamic stories, mixing myth and memory to explore loss and migration.

Major works

Basti (1979): A novel following Zakir, a history teacher in Lahore, whose memories of a lost town in India mix with the crisis of 1971.
Short stories: Collections such as Gali Kooche and Akhri Aadmi, using fables and myths to look at modern life.

Themes and style

Migration, memory, the loss of home after Partition, and moral decline, often told in the style of old tales and fables.

Legacy

In 2013 he became the first Pakistani writer shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize. He is regarded as one of the greatest Urdu fiction writers.