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Mirza Athar Baig

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Mirza Athar Baig
Baig at his home in Lahore
Baig at his home in Lahore
Born (1950-03-07) March 7, 1950 (age 74)
Lahore, Pakistan
OccupationNovelist, short story writer, screenwriter, philosopher
Alma materGovernment College University, Lahore
Notable worksGhulam Bagh, Sifar se aik tak, Hasan Ki Surat-e-Hal
Notable awardsPride of Performance
SpouseNabila Athar (1953–2011)
ChildrenSarim Baig, Basim Baig

Mirza Athar Baig (Urdu: مرزا اطہر بیگ, born 7 March 1950) is a Pakistani novelist, playwright and short story writer. He was born in Sharaqpur, Punjab. Both his parents were school teachers and encouraged him to read widely from a young age.[1] He is associated with the Department of Philosophy, at Government College University in Lahore. His fiction works include three novels, a short story collection, and numerous plays for television.

His first novel, Ghulam Bagh (Slave Garden), is considered one of the central works of literature in the Urdu language.[2][3][4] The novel is very popular in Pakistan and has also received critical acclaim. Five editions have been published since its initial publication in 2006.[5]

In addition to Ghulam Bagh, a collection of Baig's short stories, titled Beh Afsana (Anti-Story) was published in 2008. His second novel, Sifar se aik tak (From Zero to One), was published in 2010. In July 2010, DAWN newspaper published a review of Sifar se aik tak [6] commenting on its popularity with the youth, which Baig's literature is reputed to enjoy in general.[7][8]

His third novel, Hassan Ki Surat-e-Hal, was published in 2014 and has received critical acclaim in Pakistan[9][10][11] as well as in international media.[12][13][14] It was translated into English,[15] and the translation received favourable reviews.[16][17] In Hasan Ki Surat-e-Hal, Baig experiments with different narrative structures. He uses surrealist and poststructuralist theories and techniques to expand the formal limits of the Urdu novel. He has been credited with introducing postmodernism to Urdu literature by literary critics, but his own assessment of this topic is rather different: "Generally, I don’t say much when labelled as ‘post-modern’ because I consider it as a naïve and simplistic categorization. The ' modernity' we have in our parts of the world is a vastly different socio-historical process than western modernity, out of which the so-called post-modernity evolved. What sort of ‘post-modernity’ would bloom out of our ‘modernity’? Something is laughable about it but a lot is poignantly serious."[18] The book's formal experimentations arise from Baig's belief in states of wonder as central to philosophy as well as literature.[19]

Works

[edit]
First edition of Ghulam Bagh
First edition of Beh Afsana

Novels

[edit]
  • Ghulam Bagh غلام باغ
  • Sifr se aik tak
  • Hasan Ki Surat-e-Hal: حسن کی صورت حال

Short stories

[edit]
  • Beh Afsana

Drama (Serial)

[edit]
  • Daldal : دلدل
  • Doosra Asmaan : دوسرا آسماں
  • Gehray Pani: گہرے پانی
  • Hissar: حصار
  • Rog: روگ
  • Khwab Tamasha: خواب تماشہ
  • Nashaib: نشیب
  • Yeh Azad Log: یہ آزاد لوگ
  • Pataal : پاتال
  • Baila (Punjabi) بیلا
  • Sikar Dupair (Punjabi) سکر دوپہر
  • Akhri Show (Punjabi) آخری شو

Long Play

[edit]
  • Catwalk
  • Lafz Ayina Hai:لفظ آئینہ ہے
  • Dhund Mein Raasta: دھند میں راستہ
  • Bewazan Log: بے وزن لوگ

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Shahbaz, Haider. "How Mirza Ather Baig dissolves the boundaries between traditional and modern". The Caravan. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
  2. ^ Writing philosophy that sells, interview in The News International, May 2008.
  3. ^ The non-fiction novelist, article about Athar Baig in Dawn.com, June 8, 2008.
  4. ^ Another Edition of Ghulam Bagh
  5. ^ An interview by Mohammed Hanif Archived 2010-01-09 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Literate, NOS, the News International".
  7. ^ http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/in-paper-magazine/books-and-authors/traditional-forms-can-no-longer-work An interview with the DAWN newspaper
  8. ^ http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/in-paper-magazine/books-and-authors/not-for-the-gurus [dead link]
  9. ^ ""I am an outsider, standing on the edge, trying to watch and enjoy the show" | TNS - the News on Sunday". Archived from the original on 2018-12-25. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  10. ^ "Apr 27, 2014 | 'There's not a single line in all my work that does not have a basis in reality'". 27 April 2014.
  11. ^ "LAA ltaIn".
  12. ^ "Surrealist Pakistan". Himal Southasian. 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
  13. ^ "mirza novel". www.bbc.co.uk. 4 June 2014.
  14. ^ "M.A.Baig". www.dw.de.
  15. ^ "Hassan's State of Affairs". HarperCollins Publishers India. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
  16. ^ Service, Tribune News. "Chronicles of the ordinary and the bizarre". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
  17. ^ Swami, Poorna (2020-03-22). "Welcome to a Pakistani 'wonderlogue'". mint. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
  18. ^ ""I am an outsider, standing on the edge, trying to watch and enjoy the show" | Encore | thenews.com.pk". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
  19. ^ Mirza, Akhtar. "'I am in a state of wonder, certainty doesn't convince me': Urdu novelist Mirza Athar Baig". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
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