Circle and other stories

by Intizar Husain, Moazzam Sheikh (Translator)

Short stories by the Booker International Prize shortlisted author.

Intizar Husain is one of the foremost writers of the Indian subcontinent. The stories included in this collection chart Intizar's - as well as Pakistan's - literary journey since 1947. His is a perception of the rare artist, who can see and sense not only the obvious turmoils of his time but the hidden aches of ordinary people as well. His stories recall memories, which are both personal and collective, traveling back sometimes to the origin of a myth. He is always compassionate towards his characters, taking a swipe at the hypocrisy of power and status quo.

Intizar Husain is preoccupied with the moral decline of human beings in the face of a changing urban landscape. A truly international writer, he remains unvanquished by the tyranny of borders.

258 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Intizar Husain (1925–2016) was a journalist, short-story writer, and novelist, widely considered one of the most significant fiction writers in Urdu. Born in Dibai, Bulandshahr, in British-administered India, he migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and lived in Lahore. Besides Basti, he was the author of two other novels, Naya Gar (The New House), which paints a picture of Pakistan during the ten-year dictatorship of the Islamic fundamentalist General Zia-ul-Haq, and Agay Sumandar Hai (Beyond Is the Sea), which juxtaposes the spiraling urban violence of contemporary Karachi with a vision of the lost Islamic realm of al-Andalus. Collections of Husain’s celebrated short stories have appeared in English under the titles Leaves, The Seventh Door, A Chronicle of the Peacocks, and An Unwritten Epic.