First published in 1932, this slim volume of short stories created a firestorm of public outrage for its bold attack on the hypocrisy of conservative Islam and British colonialism. Inspired by British modernists like Woolf and Joyce as well as the Indian independence movement, the young writers who penned this collection Sajjad Zaheer, Ahmed Ali, Rashid Jahan and Mahmud-uz-Zafar were eager to revolutionize Urdu literature. Instead, they invited the wrath of the establishment: the book was burned in protest and then banned by the British authorities. Nevertheless, Angaaray spawned a new generation of Urdu writers and led to the formation of the Progressive Writers Association, whose members included, among others, stalwarts like Chughtai, Manto, Premchand and Faiz.  Translated into English for the first time, Angaaray retains the crackling energy and fiery polemic of the original stories. This edition also provides a compelling account of the furore surrounding this explosive collection.

Angaaray

Sajjad Zaheer

Ahmed, Ali

Snehal Shingavi (Ed. and Tr.)

Mahmud-uz-Zafar

Rashid Jahan

Penguin

A Night in London chronicles the diverse and often conflicting emotional, ideological and political aspirations of an entire generation of Indian students in Europe. The novella sheds light on the dynamics of late imperial culture English working-class politics, anti-colonial sentiment and race relations like no other sustained narrative by an expatriate Indian author of the same period.  Long considered a landmark in twentieth-century Urdu fiction, A Night in London is being made available in English for the first time in a translation by Bilal Hashmi. The volume also features an introduction by Carlo Coppola, a noted scholar and critic of Urdu literature.

A Night in London

Bilal Hashmi

HarperColllins

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Books by Sajjad Zaheer