Contents
Abdullah Hussain
Writing Udaas Naslain, a landmark Urdu novel about upheaval, class and Partition.
Udaas Naslain · Baagh
- Born
- 14 August 1931
- Birthplace
- Rawalpindi, British India
- Died
- 4 July 2015
More people
Abdullah Hussain
Abdullah Hussain was a Pakistani novelist and short-story writer. His fiction followed ordinary lives caught in social division, migration and the upheavals of twentieth-century South Asia.
Early life
Family origins
His family had roots in Bannu and Punjab; his father worked as an excise inspector and later farmed.
Early bereavement
His mother died during his infancy, and his bond with his father shaped his writing.
Career
- 1963
Debut success
Udaas Naslain received the Adamjee Literary Award.
- 1980s
Return to fiction
Published further novels and shorter fiction after a long interval.
- 1989
A darker turn
Qaid examined violence through the story of a murdered newborn.
Selected work
Udaas Naslain
Follows lives reshaped by colonial rule, social class and Partition.
Baagh
A novel concerned with conflict and liberation in Kashmir.
Nadar Log
Examines the 1971 war and the breakup of Pakistan.
Beyond work
London life
Lived in south London.
Day job
Ran an off-licence in Clapham.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Further source: theguardian.com ↗Photo: Amarjit Chandan. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
