Various aspects of fiction discussed in literary conference

The literary genre of ‘Afsancha’ was discussed on the second day of the two-day Urdu Afsana Conference organised by the Chaak Adabi Forum at City Sports Complex, Kashmir Road.

The session was presided over by Meraj Jami, in which various fiction writers expressed their views. The participants said Afsancha was a complete genre in itself and it had all the elements that fiction needed.

It was said that Afsancha worked to shock the reader and stir the conscience, trying to highlight the issues in a unique way.

A speaker gave the credit of laying the foundation of modern fiction to Saadat Hasan Manto saying that his writing of ‘Siyah Hashaye’ in 1948 was the beginning of a new era. A session ‘Yaad-e-Raftgan’ was held to remember various fiction writers that were no longer with us.

It was said that to fill in the vacuum left by the death of veteran writers, young and emerging fiction writers must carry on the tradition of fiction by bringing new techniques and observations.