“…They have served well. / Even though knuckles are pummeled, nails ridged/ like limpet shells. These hands have never/ been used to beg…” Poem of the Week (October 6), by Kishwar Naheed, in an English version by Vicki Husband.
“the sea of motor cars floods these city streets/ as though to stop for a second would halt its tides forever…” Poem of the Week (March 24), by Afshan Sajjad. Translated from Urdu by Jim Carruth.
“soon it will be dark and hard to find/ the faintest light…/ But the farthest point/ of this barren land seems to sparkle.”
Poem of the Week (February 3), by Afshan Sajjad. Translated from Urdu by Kathrine Sowerby.
“deeply/ curious then to travel, be travelled through/carrying possibilities, the wish for many lives…” Poem of the Week (January 20), by Khaled Javaid Jan. Translated from Urdu by Kathrine Sowerby.
“I’m exhausted now, or rather, I think that I had already become tired a long time ago…” Story of the Week (November 21), by Naiyer Masud. Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon.
“One rarely hears rumors about whores and bawds, one hears them about respectable women, spread with the intention of causing grief… all kinds of rumors about Laji Bai were circulating on Japani Road.” Story of the Week (October 24), by Asad Muhammad Khan. Translated from Urdu by Aquila Ismail and Muhammad Umar Memon.
“He stopped in his tracks and turned around. The bare, level and speckled trail rolled out far into the distance… Even if there were no moonlight, there was little chance of its disappearing…” Story of the Week (October 10), by Ikramullah. Translated from Urdu by Faruq Hassan and Muhammad Umar Memon.
From our ninth issue, a beautiful poem by Azra Abbas translated from the Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon
Muhammad Umar Memon translated Azra Abbas’s haunting poem, featured in our ninth issue.