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Austin South Asian | December 2018
Pakistani Author Bilal Tanweer In Austin To Attend TBF And SAI Talk
By Sumaiya Malik
Pakistani author and translator Bilal Tanweer, known for his series of short stories titled The Scatter Here Is Too Great was in Austin this October as a guest of South Asia Institute at UT Austin to deliver a talk called “Trickster as Commando: Performance of Pakistaniyat in Urdu Pulp Fiction”.
His novel has won the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize in India.
Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan (LUMS).
He was one of Granta’s New Voic-
He graduated from LUMS; has
Besides the novel, which has been translated into many languages, Tanweer has also worked to translate Khalid Akhtar’s Love in Chakiwara and Other Misadventures and two novels by Ibn-e Safi, The House Fear (Random House India, 2010).
On October 28, in the State Capitol Building at the Texas Book Festival, Tanweer talked about the impact two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, National Book Award winner, Denis Johnson, who is considered an incomparable force of American literature, had upon his work.
He also was a guest speaker in a panel discussion at the Texas Book Festival about Pulitzer Prize finalist author Denis Johnson, whose novel, Jesus’ Son, inspired Tanweer as he wrote The Scatter Here is Too Great. One would think that Tanweer’s work would be defined by this collection of short stories, but the book is just one of his accomplishments. He is considered to be one of the breakthrough voices from the subcontinent.
es for 2011 and one of the eleven recipients of the 2010 PEN Translation Fund Grant. Bilal Tanweer is a professor at the
a Masters in Fine Arts and a Fulbright Fellowship at Columbia University in New York; and an Iowa Writers’ Workshop residency.
One of the characters in his book The Scatter Here is Too Great was inspired by a character in Johnson’s book Jesus’ Son in which “Johnson
writes about suffering of characters with clarity.” Bilal Tanweer also spoke about Johnson’s novella, Trained Dreams. He said, “It was something we hadn’t encountered before…” In his talk at the South Asia Institute at UT Austin, Bilal Tanweer examined the figure of the commando in his seven-part Commando Series. He argued that the Commando appears to be modeled on the traditional figure of the trickster in Urdu dastan literature, instead of as a modern military combatant. This talk was more geared towards those interested in Urdu literature and its history. Students, general public and friends of the Texas Book Festival attended both the talks.
Pakistani American Author Hena Khan In Austin To Talk About Bounce Back And Basketball By Sumaiya Malik
his destiny.
Hena Khan is a Pakistani-American Muslim author who was born and raised in Maryland, and who enjoys sharing and writing about her culture and religion.
There are only a few small things in his way.”
She was a guest at the Texas Book Festival where she spoke about her book series Bounce Back, “an exciting new chapter book series about a scrawny fourth-grader with big dreams of basketball stardom.”. This is the third book of the series, the first being Power Forward. The book is about Fourth grader Zayd Saleem who “has some serious hoop dreams. He’s not just going to be a professional basketball player. He’s going to be a star. A legend. The first Pakistani-American kid to make it to the NBA. He knows this deep in his soul. It’s
Hena Khan said, “Each book has a sports angle and a personal angle.” She said. The children’s book author added that the series is also a window into a fun way to explore culture without getting too deep into it while also enjoyed basketball in school. Khan spoke light-heartedly about her style of writing to encourage everyone to write. She joked, “ I wish I had a set schedule. I write when I can… laptop, the office… several times a week at the kitchen table.” When asked where she finds the
inspiration, she shared a bit of her home life where her son enjoys the sport and her family is passionate about it to the nth degree. Hena Khan is well known for children’s books. Her book, Amina’s Voice, “a universal story of self-acceptance and the acceptance of others. A welcome addition to any middle grade collection (School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW).” Librarians in Austin public schools are now recommending it. Hena Khan “also spends time writing and editing for international organizations that work to improve the health and lives of people around the world.” The talk was open and free to the public.
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