Literary works of Indian writer highlighted

LAHORE:The Gurmani Centre at LUMS organised a panel discussion to recognise and explore the literary contributions of Dr Khalid Jawed, a distinguished Indian fiction writer.

Dr Jawed currently serves as a Professor at the Department of Urdu, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), where he has accumulated over 20 years of valuable experience. Jawed specialises in literary criticism and modern fiction, with three books on criticism and creative writing and numerous research articles to his credit.

He has also published three collections of short stories and highly acclaimed novels such as Maut ki Kitab, Ne’mat-Khana, and Aakhri D’awat. His novel Ne’mat-Khana, translated as The Paradise of Food, is the winner of the 2022 JCB Prize for Literature, and Aakhri D’awat is included in the curriculum of Princeton University. His short story titled Koobar is also a part of the Banaras University curriculum. His literary works have been translated into multiple languages.

Dr Khalid Jawed joined the session from Delhi, India via Zoom, while Dr Nasir Abbas Nayyar moderated the session. The discussants included Dr Aurangzeb Niazi and Shanawar Ishaq. Dr Nasir Abbas Nayyar opened the discussion by introducing Khalid Jawed and his work of fiction and criticism in detail. He explained that fiction is of two types: one is consumable literature, in which mediocrity is dominant and it is subservient to hegemony, and the other is fiction with the spirit of inventiveness. Dr Nayyar further stated that this session is not only with and about a personality but also an attempt to comprehend the significance of serious fiction of which Khalid is a representative. He mentioned Jawed’s four famous novels: Mout ki Kitab, Ek Khanjar Pani Mein, Nematkhana, Arsalan aur Behzaad. He also mentioned his nonfiction book of criticism, Kahani, Mout aur Aakhri Bidesi Zubaan, which is not discussed frequently due to his fiction work being more popular.