Artwork: “Journey of a Goldfish” by Ebineyland
In its Summer 2013 issue, The Missing Slate published some of the best contemporary Pakistani fiction writers and poets, in both English and Urdu (as translations). This issue brings a certain laxness to the format we’ve rigidly adopted for the last year by bringing our complete issue back onto the web, as individual (and shareable) pieces, in addition to our downloadable digital editions. We hope you enjoy this new approach…
Onward!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[one_half]
EDITORS’ LETTERS
A Word from the Editor-in-Chief
Maryam Piracha
A Word from the Creative Director
Moeed Tariq
Introduction to the Pakistani Writers & Poets
Muneeza Shamsie
POETRY
unclassified i
Waqas Khwaja
The Things
Kyla Pasha
Noor-e-Chashm
Mavra Rana Tanweer
Lullabies and Killers
Kyla Pasha
i wait for images to crystallize
Ilona Yusuf
Empty Bench / Khaali Bench
Azra Abbas (tr. by Muhammad Umar Memon)
The Skull of the Chief Architect
Afzal Ahmed Syed (tr. by Musharraf Ali Farooqi)
Alone As I Am / Jaise Main Tanha Hun
Azra Abbas (tr. by Muhammad Umar Memon)
Grandfather
Mehvash Amin
Mr. and Mrs. Agelast
Mavra Rana Tanweer
Untitled
Ilona Yusuf
Author’s Prayer / [urdu]دعائے سُخنور[/urdu]
Ilya Kaminsky
translated into the Urdu by Ilyas Babar Awan
[/one_half]
Karachi
Mehvash Amin
Whose Grave is it that Lies by the Juniper Tree?
Afzal Ahmed Syed (tr. by Musharraf Ali Farooqi)
FICTION
The Rose
Abdullah Hussein (tr. by Muhammad Umar Memon)
Terminator: Attack of the Drone
Mohsin Hamid
The Escape
Kamila Shamsie
The Tree at the Limit
Aamer Hussein
Lucky Vikki
Muhammad Umar Memon
The Poor Dears
Hassan Manzar (tr. by Muhammad Umar Memon)
ESSAYS & FEATURES
Free Falling
Maria Amir
Manto’s Nuances of Freedom
Sana Hussain
To Reality and Beyond!
Aaron Grierson
SPOTLIGHT