Pakistan literature is a distinct literature that gradually came to be defined after Pakistan gained nationhood status in 1947, emerging out of literary traditions of the South Asia. The shared tradition of Urdu literature and English literature of British India was inherited by the new state. Over a big time of period a body of literature unique to Pakistan has emerged in nearly all major Pakistani languages, including Urdu, English, Punjabi, Seraiki, Balochi, Pushto and Sindhi.
William Dalrymple is a Scottish historian and writer, art historian and curator, as well as an award-winning broadcaster and critic. His books have won numerous awards and prizes, including the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize, the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award, the Hemingway, the Kapuściński and the Wolfson Prizes. He has been five times longlisted and once shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction. He is also one of the co-founders and co-directors of the annual Jaipur Literature Festival.
Hanif Kureishi, CBE is a British playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and novelist of Pakistani and English descent. In 2008, The Times included Kureishi in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Indo-Persian culture refers to those Persian aspects that have been integrated into or absorbed into the cultures of the Indian subcontinent.
The culture of Asia encompasses the collective and diverse customs and traditions of art, architecture, music, literature, lifestyle, philosophy, politics and religion that have been practiced and maintained by the numerous ethnic groups of the continent of Asia since prehistory. Identification of a specific culture of Asia or universal elements among the colossal diversity that has emanated from multiple cultural spheres and three of the four ancient River valley civilizations is complicated. However, the continent is commonly divided into six geographic sub-regions, that are characterized by perceivable commonalities, like religion, language and relative ethnic homogeneity. These regions are Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and West Asia.
The culture of Malaysia draws on the varied cultures of the different people of Malaysia. The first people to live in the area were indigenous tribes that still remain; they were followed by the Malays, who moved there from mainland Asia in ancient times. Chinese and Indian cultural influences made their mark when trade began with those countries, and increased with immigration to Malaysia. Other cultures that heavily influenced that of Malaysia include Persian, Arabic, British. The many different ethnicities that currently exist in Malaysia have their own unique and distinctive cultural identities, with some crossover.
Islamic culture and Muslim culture refer to cultural practices common to historically Islamic people. The early forms of Muslim culture, from the Rashidun Caliphate to early Umayyad period, were predominantly Arab, Byzantine, Persian and Levantine. With the rapid expansion of the Islamic empires, Muslim culture has influenced and assimilated much from the Persian, Egyptian, Caucasian, Turkic, Mongol, South Asian, Malay, Somali, Berber, Indonesian, and Moro cultures.
Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Munir Nawaz Jang, also known as Syed Mehdi Ali, was an Indian Muslim politician. He was a close friend of Syed Ahmed Khan, was involved in the Aligarh Movement and was one of the founders of the All India Muslim League in 1906.
The publishing industry in Pakistan is hampered both by a low literacy rate (48%).
The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for ten days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, the festival was described by Bill Clinton in 2001 as "The Woodstock of the mind". Tony Benn said: "In my mind it's replaced Christmas". Peter Florence continues to be director of the Festival.
Jaishree Misra is an Indian author whose debut novel Ancient Promises was published and sold worldwide by Penguin UK and became a major bestseller in India. It is now a prescribed text on several University BA Eng Literature courses. Subsequent books were a comedy of manners called Accidents Like Love and Marriage and a novel about bereavement called Afterwards.
The Jaipur Literature Festival, or JLF, is an annual literary festival which takes place in the Indian city of Jaipur each January. It was founded in 2006. It is the world's largest free literary festival.
The Arts festival in Marrakech, now the Marrakech Biennale, first took place in 2005. It was set up by Vanessa Branson and Abel Damoussi with the help of curator Danny Moynihan and Liberatum creator Pablo Ganguli. It is the first major Trilingual festival in North Africa. It focuses on cutting-edge contemporary Visual Art, Literature, and Film. It consists of a main Visual Arts Exhibition, other arts exhibitions, installations and happenings, discussions, debates and screenings based in the eclectic venues and settings that Marrakech has to offer. AiM is now known as Marrakech Biennale.
The Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) is an annual literary festival that takes place in cities across Palestine.
Asia House is the UK's centre of expertise on Asia. It drives economic and political engagement between Europe and Asia by providing a forum for international decision makers, business leaders and opinion formers to engage in high level discussions that direct business and political strategies.
Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India is a 2009 travel book by William Dalrymple.
Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) is an annual international literary festival held in Karachi, Pakistan. It is the first festival of its kind in the country. It is one of the world's youngest and fastest growing literary festivals. Till 2019, ten editions of this festival have been held.
Pakistani English literature refers to English literature that has been developed and evolved in Pakistan, as well as by members of the Pakistani diaspora who write in the English language. English is one of the official languages of Pakistan and has a history going back to the British colonial rule in South Asia ; the national dialect spoken in the country is known as Pakistani English. Today, it occupies an important and integral part in modern Pakistani literature. Dr. Alamgir Hashmi introduced the term "Pakistani Literature [originally written] in English" with his "Preface" to his pioneering book Pakistani Literature: The Contemporary English Writers as well as through his other scholarly work and the seminars and courses taught by him in many universities since 1970's. It was established as an academic discipline in the world following his lead and further work by other scholars, and it is now a widely popular field of study.
The Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) is an international literary festival held annually in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The festival is considered to be one of South Asia's premier cultural events.
Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press is a publishing house based in Doha, Qatar. The press was initially managed by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC and was founded as Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) in 2008 until its transition into HBKU Press in 2015. HBKU Press is part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University which is under the wider community of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. It publishes titles that serve both an international audience as well as the larger Arab community publishing fiction, non-fiction, young adult and children's literature, and academic titles. They highlight local Middle Eastern and Qatari narratives and also translate internationally recognized and award-winning books from other foreign languages into Arabic.
