Tell us about The Scatter Here is Too Great.
The author talks about his first book and winning the Shakti Bhatt award
Tell us about The Scatter Here is Too Great.
It’s a net of stories about living in the city and started with the need to write about a boy who I taught.
From a translator to a teacher and now an award-winning writer....
I wanted to be a fighter pilot, but I realised writing is something I suck at the least.
Who is your biggest critic?
I would like to think I myself am my biggest critic.
What does the Shakti Bhatt award mean to you?
I am pleased and grateful. I wondered if I would be understood; the award gives me the confidence to take further risks.
Elsewhere you've said it took you five years to complete this book.
I started writing it in my mid-20s; it took me time to have something substantial to say. I struggled with the narrative too.
How did you bring the Urdu undertone in your writing?
I love Urdu and I am a translator from Urdu to English. It’s become the way I write.
Why did you centre the book on a mega city like Karachi?
Karachi is my limitation as a writer. I am not a big fan of global novels and my writing comes from the place I inhabit.
Tell us about your next project, a humorous novel we hear!
I keep making things up about my next book. I want it to be humorous as I don’t like oppressive seriousness. But I really don't know what it's going to be.
What is your target audience?
I don’t necessarily qualify my audience before I write. I am my audience.
How do you plan to spend your prize money?
I shall put some into travelling. The rest shall be banked.