Hanif takes darker turn in new novel

Mohammed Hanif’s 2008 debut, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, employed satire and the distance of a recent historical setting to bravely grapple with issues of military dominance and authoritarianism that continue to afflict Pakistani society.

Mr. Hanif has followed this success up with Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, a novel set in contemporary Pakistan which is darker, less humorous and perhaps more daring than his earlier work.

The novel centers around Alice Bhatti, a beautiful, scrappy 27-year-old whose father is a drain cleaner from French Colony, a poor Christian quarter of Karachi, as she tries to make her way in life by training as a nurse, marrying a bodybuilder and becoming a mother.

Karachi, one of the world’s most violent cities, is a faintly-sketched backdrop for the daily degradations that Alice must face as both a woman and a poor Christian. She’s attacked at nursing college by a group of Muslim girls for being a “kafir” and later jailed for an operational procedure gone wrong that was not her fault. She is sexually assaulted by a rich, gun-toting man from an “old money” family in the VIP room of a hospital, with a casualness which is sickening.

Full report here WSJ blogs

Shakti Bhatt Prize shortlist announced

Amidst all the big ticket literary prizes on the Indian landscape, the one that still has the most hearts racing is the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize. After all, as the name suggests, the winner is always a first-time author, and what better start to a literary career than to win an award with your first book?

The prize, set up in memory of the talented writer and editor Shakti Bhatt, who died tragically just at the age of 27, has in the past three years been won by Samanth Subramanian for Following Fish; Mridula Koshy for If It Is Sweet; and Mohammed Hanif for A Case of Exploding Mangoes. This year, as is the practice, a shortlist of six books has been announced, with the winner scheduled to be announced in November.

Easily the most exciting aspect of this year's shortlist is the inclusion of the Pakistani writer Jamil Ahmad's The Wandering Falcon. For Ahmad is 78, not the usual age for someone in the running for a first book prize. The retired civil servant has completed his manuscript of interconnected stories set on the border of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran back in 1974. But it wasn’t until 2008 that the work was dusted off and found its way to Penguin UK, where Meru Gokhale – currently Editorial Director of Vintage Books at Random House India - picked it up.

The shortlist:
The Collaborator, Mirza Waheed
The Wandering Falcon, Jamail Ahmad
The Truth About Me, A Revathi
Chinaman, Shehan Karunatilaka
A Free Man, Aman Sethi
RD Burman: The Man, The Music, Anirudha Bhattacharjee & Balaji Vittal

Full report here IBNLive

Kovalam Literary Festival to make Delhi debut

The annual Kovalam Literary Festival will make its debut stopover in the national capital Sept 29 with a daylong session at the India International Centre (IIC), founder-director of the festival Binoo K. John said on Monday.

The stopover in being held prior to the main festival in Thiruvananthapuram Oct 1-2.

The line-up includes Mohammed Hanif, Aamer Hussain, Fatima Bhutto from Pakistan and Shehan Karunatilake, the author of “Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Matthew” from Sri Lanka.

Karunatilake won the Gratiaen Award for his book.

“Hanif is expected to read from his new novel ‘Our Lady of Alice Bhatti’. The India International Centre is sponsoring the mini-edition of the Kovalam Literary Festival. An event in Delhi will give us leverage and will help brand the festival,” John said.

“Delhi has book events throughout the year and an extremely aware audience will get a day’s extravaganza with a music concert at the end,” John added.

With tale of love, Mohammed Hanif escapes Pakistan's realities

It's not always easy to do so, but Pakistani journalist-writer Mohammed Hanif of 'A Case of Exploding Mangoes' fame has turned his mind off from the grim truths confronting his country with a love story that touches on terror and trauma.

An extract from Hanif's new novel, Butt and Bhatti was published in the Pakistan Granta 112, a special issue of the magazine devoted to the country. The roller-coaster tale weaves itself around a policeman, Teddy Butt, and a nurse, Alice Bhatti.

'This is the first time I am trying to write a love story. It is one of those great Pakistani civilian love stories,' Hanif, who was in Kerala to attend the Kovalam Literary Festival, told IANS.

The book will be published next year in Britain and India. The inspiration for the book comes from what is going on in the country.

'I am a journalist by profession and I am grounded in realities. I have to write 1,200 words about them often. But when you are writing a book - in a way you are trying to escape what is happening around you, our darker side. It is a grown up thing to do, because one can't really go back to being a child - not at my age,' said Hanif, born in 1964.

Full report here Sify

Indians, Pakistanis are different people: Pak author

Dismissing the `concept' that Indians and Pakistanis were `long lost brothers,' Pakistani author Mohammad Haneef today said he felt that the peoples in the two countries were very different. "I hear this mantra--that Indians and Pakistanis are brothers--off and on. But I feel that we are very different people," Haneef said while speaking about his first novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes at the Kovalam literary festival that concluded today.

"We (India and Pakistan) might have had a shared history. But the way we interpreted the history is different," he said.

Haneef said one-fifth of Pakistan was now reeling under floods. "A mosque is blown up every day. Do you think Pakistanis are sitting there thinking about India? They don't have the time and mental space for that," he said, adding in a lighter vein, "get used to their indifference."

He said though many restrictions were there in Pakistan, there were no curbs on writing.

Later participating in a debate on the topic `Indo-Pak: Is there a way ahead,' Haneef felt that militaries in both the countries were killing their own people. "We do have some nuts among us. Similar people are on your side also. I don't know if there is a way forward," he said.

Full report here Hindustan Times

Military cooperation can transform India-Pak ties: Tharoor

Military collaboration could transform the relationship between India and Pakistan, former minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor said at the Kovalam Literary Festival in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. "When 26/11 happened, there was a spasm of hope after the president and prime minister of India announced that the director general of ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) would fly to India to cooperate in the investigation. But the information was leaked (in the form of a press statement from the Pakistan PM's house). Had that (the visit) happened, it would have led to serious cooperation," said Tharoor, a former minister of state for external affairs.

"Military cooperation could indeed transform the relationship between India and Pakistan," Tharoor told a packed house at the Kanakakunnu Palace.

He was participating in a debate, "Indo-Pak: Is There A Way Ahead", featuring a panel comprising Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif, writer Deborah Baker-Ghosh and veteran journalist Satish Jacob. The debate was anchored by BBC journalist Amit Baruah.

Full report here Hindustan Times

Chinese, Pak, African authors at Kovalam

Chinese writer Lijian Zhang along with Pakistani writers Mohammed Haneef and Ali Sethi will be the prime attractions of the Kovalam Literature Festival early next month in Thiruvanthapuram.

Zhang, who is visiting India for the first time would speak about her bestseller Socialism is Great, a memoir of her growing up years in China of the 1980s, at the third edition of the festival, scheduled to be held on October 2-3 at the Kanakakunnu Place in Kerala's capital city.

Mohammed Haneef who wrote A Case of the Exploding Mangoes along with Ali Sethi whose debut novel The Wish Maker and H M Naqvi's The Home boy form the authors from Pakistan who will read out and discuss their books at the festival.

"We also have Debrah Baker, the wife of Amitav Ghosh reading out from her yet to be released book on Islam and Pakistan," says an organiser of the festival.

Baker''s book The Convert: A Parable of Islam and America, is scheduled to be released next year in India.

Among other invitees include poet lyricist ONV Kurup, writer Paul Zachariah, Kashmiri author Basharat Peer, graphic novelist Sarnath Banerjee, Amish Tripathi, Mridula Koshy and Manu Joseph. Capt Gopinath, talks about his autobiography "simply fly.in" with Amit Baruah.

Full report here MSN

Pak flavour at 3rd Kovalam Fest

Three major Pakistani writers and a Chinese author who has achieved global celebrity with her take on socialism are among the literary stars set to attend the third Kovalam Literary Festival in Thiruvananthapuram Oct 1-3.

Mohammed Hanif, whose Case of Exploding Mangoes is an international bestseller, and debut novelists Ali Sethi (The Wish Maker) and H.M. Naqvi (Home Boy) lead the Pakistan contingent, which will also include journalist Najam Sethi.

China's Lijia Zhang, who is making her first appearance in India, is the author of the best selling 'Socialism Is Great'. A regular speaker at major literary festivals, Lijia was also a participant of the writer-in-residence programme at Switzerland's Chateau Lagviny.

The festival will also feature a reading by Deborah Baker-Ghosh from her forthcoming book on Islam and Pakistan.

Baker-Ghosh, wife of writer Amitav Ghosh, will read from her The Convert: A Parable of Islam and America, which will be released next year in India by Penguin.

Full report here Sify

Prize-winning writers on CWG menu

Literary enthusiasts may get a chance to interact with award-winning authors at a special event during the Commonwealth Games that will host all the previous winners of the annual Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. “We hope to hold a literary event in the cultural programmes associated with the Games and will invite authors who have won Commonwealth Prize,” Commonwealth Foundation director Mike Collins said.

The previous winners of the award include Vikram Chandra, Jhumpa Lahiri, Mohammed Hanif, V S Naipaul, J M Coetzee, Indra Sinha, Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood. “India is at the heart of the Commonwealth and it is great to have the Games and the literary award come here,” Collins said.

Full report here Indian Express

Bringing back joy & pleasure

Last weekend, Pakistan’s rising literary stars and a handful of fiction writers, journalists and poets from India, Bangladesh, UK and the United States gathered to kick off the country’s first literary festival in the pulsing port of Karachi.


In the last ten years, authors of Pakistani English language fiction such as Mohsin Hamid, Nadeem Aslam and Mohammed Hanif have gained increased recognition in the international literary scene, winning accolades and prestigious prizes such as the Betty Trask Award, the Kuriyama Prize and the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize. But until last weekend, there had never been a forum within Pakistan to discuss and celebrate this phenomenon.

Last weekend, Pakistan’s rising literary stars and a handful of fiction writers, journalists and poets from India, Bangladesh, UK and the United States gathered to kick off the country’s first literary festival in the pulsing port of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and its financial and economic center. Although the festival was announced to the public merely a day before the inaugural event due to security concerns, the festival’s sessions drew an enthusiastic and diverse audience of Karachiites who listened eagerly to authors discussing their work and debating issues such as the role and challenges of contemporary South Asian English Literature.

Full report here Deccan Herald

When Punjabi writers across the border meet

Times of India's Aman Ki Asha initiative had Chetan Bhagat and Mohammad Hanif  talking to each other. Hhere's what ensued 

Earlier this week, two Punjabi writers from both sides of the Line of Control talked peace and took panga with war. Youre a fellow Punjabi so you know what the word panga means. You look like the kinda guy who takes pangas, said Chetan Bhagat, Indias pop fiction writer and youth icon, to Mohammed Hanif, Pakistani writer who painted satirical picture of life under General Zia in his book, A Case of Exploding Mangoes. Exploding Indo-Pak myths was a job the two men proved mighty good at as they faced each other under the spot light on the lawns of Horniman Circle at a tete-a-tete for Aman Ki Asha, an Indo Pak peace initiative by The Times of India and Pakistan's Jang group. Their dialogue tackled serious issues but was interspersed with light banter as well prompting rounds of laughter.

People dont realise that Pakistanis have always taken panga with the state because were almost always uled by military dictators, said Hanif. When asked whether Pakistanis were pre-occupied with India, Hanif said that people in Pakistan were more worried about whats going on in their own country to worry about India. They want peace in Pakistan, first, he added.

Global winners of Commonwealth book awards announced

The regional winners of the Commonwealth Writers' Prizes for Best Book and Best First Book were announced on March 12. Jhumpa Lahiri has been nominated for Unaccustomed Earth in the best book category. The prize is worth £1,000.

Two Canadian authors, Marina Endicott and Joan Thomas, have won awards with the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

Winners by region:
AFRICA:
• Best Book: Mandla Langa of South Africa for The Lost Colours of the Chameleon
• Best First Book: Uwem Akpan of Nigeria for Say You're One of Them
Langa prevailed over authors such as Damon Galgut (The Imposter) and Zoë Wicomb (The One That Got Away) while Akpan won over authors such as Jane Bennett (Porcupine) and Jassy Mackenzie (Random Violence).

EUROPE AND SOUTH ASIA:
• Best Book: Jhumpa Lahiri of the UK for Unaccustomed Earth
• Best First Book: Mohammed Hanif of Pakistan for A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Hanif was up against writers such as Joe Dunthorne (Submarine) and Sulaiman Addonia (The Consequences of Love) for the prize, while Lahiri beat out writers such as Chris Cleave (The Other Hand) and Salman Rushdie (The Enchantress of Florence).

SOUTH EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC:
• Best Book: Christos Tsiolkas of Australia for The Slap
• Best First Book: Mo Zhi Hong of New Zealand for The Year of the Shanghai Shark
Tsiolkas beat out authors such as Aravind Adiga (Between the Assassinations) and Tim Winton (Breath) while Mo Zhi Hong triumphed over Adiga (The White Tiger) and Nam Le (The Boat).
The winners in each category will be announced at a ceremony in New Zealand on May 16, 2009.

CANADA AND THE CARIBBEAN REGION:
• Best Book: Marina Endicott of Canada for Good to a Fault
• Best First Book: Joan Thomas of Canada for Reading By Lightning.

Endicott won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best Book Award, for Canada and the Caribbean, for her novel Good to a Fault. The novel recounts the chaotic journey a lonely woman and her family take after a car accident. "With delicate precision, Good to a Fault tackles some of the big, eternal questions — love, mortality, God — in a deceptively modest story populated with very ordinary people brought together in extraordinary circumstances," said Michael Bucknor, chair of the judging panel for the Canada and Caribbean region, in a statement.

The winners in each category will be announced at a ceremony in New Zealand on May 16, 2009.