Intizar Hussain | |
---|---|
Native name | انتظار حسین |
Born | 21 December 1925 Dibai, Bulandshahr district, British India |
Died | 2 February 2016 Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan | (aged 90)
Occupation | Writer, novelist |
Language | Urdu |
Nationality | Pakistani |
Alma mater | Meerut College |
Years active | 1940s – 2016 |
Notable awards | Sitara-i-Imtiaz Pride of Performance Award by the President of Pakistan in 1986 Adamjee Literary Award Kamal-i-Fun (Lifetime Achievement) award Sahitya Akademi Fellowship (National Academy of Letters) of India awarded in 2007 Anjuman Farogh-i-Adab Doha's award[1] |
Intizar Hussain or Intezar Hussain (Urdu: انتظار حسین; 21 December 1925 – 2 February 2016) was a Pakistani writer of Urdu novels, short stories, poetry and nonfiction. He is widely recognised as a leading literary figure of Pakistan.[2][3][4][5]
He was among the finalists of the Man Booker Prize in 2013.[6]
Intizar Hussain was born on 21 December 1925 in Bulandshahr district, Uttar Pradesh, British India.[5] He received a degree in Urdu literature in Meerut.[7] As someone born in the Indian subcontinent who later migrated to Pakistan during 1947 Partition, a perennial theme in Hussain's works deals with the nostalgia linked with his life in pre-partition era.[8] Intizar Husain was often described as possibly the greatest living Urdu writer.[9]
He lived in the old Anarkali Bazaar of Lahore, where he associated and socialized with the likes of Nasir Kazmi, Muhammad Hasan Askari and together they frequented Lahore's teahouses – Pak Tea House, Nagina Bakery, Coffee House, Lords and Arab Hotel.[5]
Lahore's literary scene was divided between two groups, Anjuman-e-Tarraqi-Pasand-Mussanafeen (Progressive Writers Movement) (a leftwing group) and the rightwing Halqa-e Arbab-e Zauq in the 1950s. Intizar Hussain decided not to be closely associated with either group and managed to stay neutral and focus on his writing career.[5]
He wrote short stories, novels and poetry in Urdu, and also literary columns for newspapers such as Dawn and Daily Express.[2][3][4] The Seventh Door, Leaves and Basti are among his books that have been translated into English.
Among the five novels he wrote – Chaand Gahan (1952), Din Aur Daastaan (1959), Basti (1980), Tazkira (1987), Aage Samandar Hai (1995) – Basti received global praise.[2]
His other writings include Hindustan Se Aakhri Khat, Aagay Sumandar Hai,[2] Shehr-e-Afsos, Jataka Tales, Janam Kahanian and Wo Jo Kho Gaye. Aagay Sumandar Hai (Sea is facing you in the front) contrasts the spiraling urban violence of contemporary Karachi with a vision of the lost Islamic realm of al-Andalus in modern Spain.[2][10][4][11]
His novel Basti is based on Pakistani history.[3]
Among his books, "Basti" and "Khali Pinjra" have been translated into Persian by Samira Gilani.
On 2 February 2016, he died at National Hospital, Defence Housing Authority at Lahore after contracting pneumonia.[10][7][5] The Indian Express newspaper termed him the "best-known Pakistani writer in the world" after Manto.[12]
His wife, Aliya Begum, had died in 2004 and they had no children.[13]
Hussain believed that two forces had risen in contemporary Pakistan: women and the mullahs. He also acknowledged his study and the influence of Buddhist texts and the Mahabharata.[14]
In 2016, Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) announced the ‘Intizar Hussain Award’ which would be given to a literary figure every year.[15]