11 Interview Qaisra Shahraz
Interview published to promote The Holy and the Unholy: Critical Essays on the Art and Craft of Qaisra Shahraz’s Fiction, in the journal Solidarity (Pakistan).
The volume of critical essays on the work of Qaisra Shahraz, The Holy and the Unholy: Critical Essays on the Art and Craft of Qaisra Shahraz’s Fiction has been edited by A.R Kidwai and Mohammad Asim Siddiqui, Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. Dr. Munira T., Women’s College, Aligarh Muslim University, India spoke to Mohammad Asim Siddiqui, about various aspects of this book. Excerpts of the interview:
How did first the idea of this book come up?
Qaisra Shahraz visited many places in India and gave talks on her two books. Her trip was made possible by her Indian publishers Penguin. I chanced to read her work and I found it interesting. Later my colleague and the co -editor of this book Professor A.R. Kidwai suggested that we could interest many people to contribute essays on the art and craft of Qaisra Shahraz. The response simply overwhelmed us. In almost no time we received the consent of a great many colleagues in India and elsewhere in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Europe and the United States to write for this volume. Most of them have kept their word. We are indeed grateful to them for their interest.
Out of so many post-colonial Indian and Pakistani writers writing in English, what, in your opinion, is special about Qaisra Shahraz as a remarkable fiction writer?
Of the postcolonial writers it is only Indian writers who hog all limelight. The Rushdies, the Ghoshs, the Desais. The fact is a lot of new and interesting writing is emerging from unlikely places. From Pakistan, from Bangladesh. And whatever be the image of Pakistan in the media, Western and Indian, an interesting thing is that a lot of new writers are emerging from Pakistan. Most of this writing is very political which is not surprising since Pakistan faces problems which are essentially of political nature.
The volume of critical essays on the work of Qaisra Shahraz, The Holy and the Unholy: Critical Essays on the Art and Craft of Qaisra Shahraz’s Fiction has been edited by A.R Kidwai and Mohammad Asim Siddiqui, Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. Dr. Munira T., Women’s College, Aligarh Muslim University, India spoke to Mohammad Asim Siddiqui, about various aspects of this book. Excerpts of the interview:
How did first the idea of this book come up?
Qaisra Shahraz visited many places in India and gave talks on her two books. Her trip was made possible by her Indian publishers Penguin. I chanced to read her work and I found it interesting. Later my colleague and the co -editor of this book Professor A.R. Kidwai suggested that we could interest many people to contribute essays on the art and craft of Qaisra Shahraz. The response simply overwhelmed us. In almost no time we received the consent of a great many colleagues in India and elsewhere in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Europe and the United States to write for this volume. Most of them have kept their word. We are indeed grateful to them for their interest.
Out of so many post-colonial Indian and Pakistani writers writing in English, what, in your opinion, is special about Qaisra Shahraz as a remarkable fiction writer?
Of the postcolonial writers it is only Indian writers who hog all limelight. The Rushdies, the Ghoshs, the Desais. The fact is a lot of new and interesting writing is emerging from unlikely places. From Pakistan, from Bangladesh. And whatever be the image of Pakistan in the media, Western and Indian, an interesting thing is that a lot of new writers are emerging from Pakistan. Most of this writing is very political which is not surprising since Pakistan faces problems which are essentially of political nature.