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.
