Urdu literature: A hundred years of Manto

Conference on Naya Urdu Afsana to mark the 100th birth anniversary of writer Saadat Hasan Manto.

LAHORE:

A conference on Naya Urdu Afsana (Modern Urdu short story) was organised on April 7 at the Lahore University of Managements Sciences (LUMS) to mark the 100th birth anniversary of writer Saadat Hasan Manto. 

The opening session was chaired by writer Intezar Husain, who brought into focus the problems associated with defining the genre. Writer Bano Qudsia said that all creative writing is grounded in tradition. The second session dealt with New Trends in the Urdu Short Story. Writers and critics discussed new trends in the light of the modern and post-modern literary theories and symbolism. The participants included Asad Muhammad Khan, Masood Ashar, Atiya Syed, Asif Farrukhi and Najeeba Arif.

The third session was on Manto and the 1947 divide and the last session critiqued the writings of certain short story writers.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2012.