Waqas Khwaja | Agnes Scott College (original) (raw)

Waqas Khwaja

Waqas Khwaja is the Ellen Douglass Leyburn Professor of English at Agnes Scott College where he teaches courses in Postcolonial literature, British Romanticism, Narratives of Empire, Gothic literature, Victorian poetry and fiction, Literature and Leadership, and Creative Writing. He has a Ph.D. in English from Emory University and a law degree (LL.B.) from the Punjab University Law College, Lahore. Khwaja has published four collections of poetry, Hold Your Breath, No One Waits for the Train, Mariam’s Lament, and Six Geese from a Tomb at Medum, as well as a literary travelogue, Writers and Landscapes, about his experiences as a fellow of the International Writers Program, University of Iowa, and three edited anthologies of Pakistani literature, Cactus, Mornings in the Wilderness, and Short Stories from Pakistan. He served as translation editor (and contributor) for Modern Poetry of Pakistan, a project jointly sponsored by the National Endowment of the Arts and the Pakistan Academy of Letters, which showcases the work of 44 poets from seven of Pakistan’s local and regional languages and has guest-edited a special issue of scholarly articles on Pakistani Literature for the Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies.

A regular contributor to The Frontier Post, The Pakistan Economic Review, The Pakistan Times, News International, The Nation, and The Friday Times between 1983 and 1992, Khwaja was a practicing lawyer and visiting professor of law in Pakistan before migrating to the U.S. in 1994. He has published articles and essays on writers from a variety of linguistic and cultural traditions and on subjects as wide-ranging as literature and economics, history, culture, and politics. A special issue on Pakistani poetry that he guest-edited for Atlanta Review was released in Spring 2014. His poems and translations have appeared in US, Pakistani, European, and Far Eastern publications, literary journals, and anthologies.

A recipient of special recognition for outstanding creative writing from the South Asian Literary Society (SALA), USA, (2017), and Orient-Occident Arts Laureate award from the Fundația Academia Internațională Orient-Occident, Curtea de Argeș, Romania (2021), among other honors, Khwaja regularly organizes poetry readings for social and political causes and arranges open public readings annually at Agnes Scott College as part of the international “100 Thousand Poets for Change” project.

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Papers by Waqas Khwaja

Zulfikar Ghose (1935-) Waqas Ahmad Khwaja BIOGRAPHY Zulfikar Ghose, originally Khwaja Zulfikar Ah... more Zulfikar Ghose (1935-) Waqas Ahmad Khwaja BIOGRAPHY Zulfikar Ghose, originally Khwaja Zulfikar Ahmad, was born in 1935 to Kashmiri par-ents in Sialkot, in what was then the British Indian Empire. In 1942, his family moved to the flourishing metropolis of Bombay (now ...

Pleiades, Aug 31, 2023

Poetry

"Even the poorest enjoy the sport of kite flying" and "Ayee Bo Kataa", 1990

An account of the likely origin of the celebration of Basant by Muslims and the sport of kite-fly... more An account of the likely origin of the celebration of Basant by Muslims and the sport of kite-flying in northern India and Pakistan, with a description of various kinds of kites, the string used to fly them, the kite battles, the practices of the Ustads or Master kite-flyers, and some memorable kite-flying competitions from the past.

South Asian Review, 2004

For over two years I have been trying to explain that The Satanic Verses was never intended as an... more For over two years I have been trying to explain that The Satanic Verses was never intended as an insult; that the story of Gibreel is a parable of how a man can be destroyed by the loss of faith; that the dreams in which all the so-called "insults" occur are portraits of his disintegration, and explicitly referred to in the novel as punishments and retributions; and that the dream figures who torment him with their assaults on religion are representative of this process of initiation, and not representative of the point of view of the author. (Salman Rushdie, The Times, 28/12/90, qtd. in La'Porte, 91)

Transcultural Humanities in South Asia, edited by Waseem Anwar & Nosheen Yousaf, 2022

Denounced variously as neither practically useful nor economically profitable, as founded on bias... more Denounced variously as neither practically useful nor economically profitable, as founded on biases of race, class, gender, faith and ethnicity or Eurocentric and colonial, what use are the humanities? But they have also long been seen as essential to learning critical thinking skills, acquiring cultural literacy and historical responsibility and becoming aware, empowered citizens in a democratic society. This chapter offers a possible reimagining of the humanities in global terms, contextually in variance, to combat the erasures, distortions and misperceptions on which the traditional view is based so as to accommodate modes of perception, knowledge formation and appraisal other than the ones historically privileged.

South Asian Review, 2006

Book file PDF easily for everyone and every device. You can download and read online Triptych fil... more Book file PDF easily for everyone and every device. You can download and read online Triptych file PDF Book only if you are registered here. And also you can download or read online all Book PDF file that related with Triptych book. Happy reading Triptych Bookeveryone. Download file Free Book PDF Triptych at Complete PDF Library. This Book have some digital formats such us :paperbook, ebook, kindle, epub, fb2 and another formats. Here is The Complete PDF Book Library. It's free to register here to get Book file PDF Triptych.

The first anthology of its kind to appear in English, Modern Poetry of Pakistan brings together n... more The first anthology of its kind to appear in English, Modern Poetry of Pakistan brings together not one but many poetic traditions indigenous to Pakistan, with 142 poems translated from seven major languages, six of them regional (Baluchi, Kashmiri, Panjabi, Pashto, Seraiki, and Sindhi) and one national (Urdu). Collecting the work of forty-two poets and fifteen translators, this book reveals a society riven by ethnic, class, and political differences--but also a beautiful and truly national literature, with work both classical and modern, belonging to the same culture and sharing many of the same concerns and perceptions.

Friday Times, 2016

A brief review of Punjabi poet Nasreen Anjum Bhatti's life & work on the occasion of her death in... more A brief review of Punjabi poet Nasreen Anjum Bhatti's life & work on the occasion of her death in 2016.

An overview of Faiz Ahmad Faiz's contribution to the literary and socio-political culture of Paki... more An overview of Faiz Ahmad Faiz's contribution to the literary and socio-political culture of Pakistan in its first 75 years of existence. An enlarged version of the paper published as "Faiz made revolution a romantic rendezvous" in the November issue of Herald, Pakistan.

Pakistan's finest composer of film music, celebrated anthologist of classical gharana gaiki, musi... more Pakistan's finest composer of film music, celebrated anthologist of classical gharana gaiki, musicologist, screenwriter, film director, and producer was born in Mianwali, Punjab, and received his early education at Central Model School before going on to Government College, Lahore, where he graduated with a first-class first in his Masters in Philosophy, winning the Nanak Gold Medal for this achievement. This a brief synopsis of his career.

A discussion and analysis of Intizar Husain's shorter fiction

A review and assessment of Punjabi Oral poet Ustad Daman's life and work (including English trans... more A review and assessment of Punjabi Oral poet Ustad Daman's life and work (including English translations of 8 of his poems) on the posthumous publication of his collected, recalled, poems gathered and assembled by his devotees, followers, and friends under the title "Daman Dey Moti."

This essay explores the concept of a normative national literature in respect of Pakistan as a po... more This essay explores the concept of a normative national literature in respect of Pakistan as a political State and (putative) independent country by examining the role that language and literature play in bringing people together or segregating them, in being vehicles for their creative spirit, their powers of invention, and, crucially, their ability to be relevant to the building of a vibrant, just, and equitable society. It challenges the idea of considering any one language as “representative of” a multilingual, multicultural, country in the interest of artificially, and arbitrarily, forging a nation and argues that imposition of a linguistic writ from the center not only replicates British colonial policies and approach but also ends up depriving individual provinces and regions of their linguistic recognition and identity. The discussion is augmented by inviting simultaneous consideration of issues related to deep and pervasive class divisions within the Pakistani society.

rather brutal and, at times, crude exposure of our own psyche helps us to form a community of und... more rather brutal and, at times, crude exposure of our own psyche helps us to form a community of understanding with others, to sympathise with their overpowering impulses, and to appreciate the importance of tolerance and forgiveness. To be able to do this, Manto was obliged to wear various masks and tick like a heartbeat in other bodies. He became his characters.

South Asian Review, Vol. 25, No. 2, Oct 2005

Little things at first. If Mahound recited a verse in which God was described as all-hearing, all... more Little things at first. If Mahound recited a verse in which God was described as all-hearing, all-knowing, I would write, all-knowing, allwise. Here's the point: Mahound did not notice the alterations. . .' (SV 367) For over two years I have been trying to explain that The Satanic Verses was never intended as an insult; that the story of Gibreel is a parable of how a man can be destroyed by the loss of faith; that the dreams in which all the so-called "insults" occur are portraits of his disintegration, and explicitly referred to in the novel as punishments and retributions; and that the dream figures who torment him with their assaults on religion are representative of this process of initiation, and not representative of the point of view of the author. (Salman Rushdie, The Times, 28/12/90, qtd. in La'Porte, 91).

Poetry and Voice. Stephanie Norgate, Ellie Piddington, eds. (Cambridge Scholars Publishing), Dec 2012

Several years ago, on a cold winter morning in Lahore, I arrived at the office building where I w... more Several years ago, on a cold winter morning in Lahore, I arrived at the office building where I worked an hour or so early, only to find that the janitor was just opening its doors to let in the cleaning crew. Here was a small bustling group of cleaners with brooms and rags and pails of water, one of the sweepers already commencing his vigorous application of the broom and raising cloudlets of dust in the corridor. I thought it best to step out into the street on the side of the building and take a walk while I waited for things to settle down. Very little traffic was about in the street at the time, and all the stores that lined the street opposite still had their shutters down, some secured with heavy padlocks, others fortified with wooden slats or planks bolted at either end. Each store had a narrow ledge extending in front, and there, on one of these, I saw a of an elderly man wrapped in a brown chador, a shabby brown cap on his head, sitting with his knees drawn up, bent over an open notebook, and scribbling away with no apparent consciousness of his surroundings. I walked up and down the sidewalk on my side of the street and looked at him curiously from a distance as I passed and re-passed him several times. Then I crossed over to the other side and started walking casually toward him from behind. Perhaps, if I was lucky and he remained unmindful of my presence, I could peer over his shoulder and get a glimpse of what he was so absorbed in writing. Perhaps, I could greet him and engage him in a conversation. But as I approached him, he seemed instinctively to become aware of my presence and shifted his position so as to hide what he was writing, and all this without lifting his head or looking at all in my direction. In that brief moment, though, I got a glimpse of the page in front of him. With a barely suppressed gasp of surprise I saw that the whole page was filled up with coiling circles in neat row after row from top to bottom.

"Modern Poetry of Pakistan," (Dalkey Archive Press), Jan 2011

Book Reviews by Waqas Khwaja

Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal (PBLJ), 2022

A review of Mehr Afshan Farooqi's "Ghalib: A Wilderness at my Doorstep" (Penguin Random House, In... more A review of Mehr Afshan Farooqi's "Ghalib: A Wilderness at my Doorstep" (Penguin Random House, India, 2021)