For readers of Ismat Chughtai, Banu Mushtaq and Saadat Hasan Manto.
A tooth powder seller's muse. A moustache-wielding matriarch. A beautician who keeps close company with rats.
The women in this unconventional collection of short stories break out of their societal bonds, challenge norms and write their own fates.
First published in Urdu in 2021 to critical acclaim, Kallo opens readers to a new world. Men, though instrumental, are incidental; piety and grime jostle for space; queerness of all kinds is welcome; and women's passions, desires and fears are at the forefront.
This sharp takedown of the hypocrisies of society, particularly the man-made divisions of national borders, religion, caste and class, is a masterclass in irreverent satire – great if you love a bite in your humour – with female protagonists you can't help but root for.
A landmark work of feminist and queer Urdu literature now available in English for the first time.
'Dazzling, delicate and richly imagined stories.’ ― ANEES SALIM, winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, 2018
'A lucid and deeply sensitive translation. '―Rana Safvi, historian and author
'In story after story, Sameena moves forward – proudly, unapologetically, fearlessly – holding aloft the banner unfurled by Ismat. ’―DR RAKHSHANDA JALIL, writer, translator and literary historian
'Taut prose... Saira Mujtaba has translated the stories with a deep cultural register.’ ―SHAFEY KIDWAI, winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, 2019, and a well-known bilingual critic, author and reviewer
An essential for every feminist and queer reading list – and for anyone who loves sharp, fearless literary fiction.
Sameena Nazir is a writer, trained actor, playwright and producer. A theatre graduate from the National Academy of Performing Arts, she is the co-founder and CEO of What If Productions, and has written, produced and directed a number of short films as well as television films. Kallo (2021) is her debut short story collection, and her debut novel Siyah Heerey (2023) is noted for being the first Urdu novel to be set in Africa. Her writing deals with taboos such as homosexuality, female sexuality and caste. Sameena is based in Karachi.
Saira Mujtaba is a Lakhnawi at heart and is currently based in New Delhi. She hails from a family of writers and poets in Lucknow. She is a broadcaster by profession, but translating Urdu literature for the wider English-speaking audience is her calling. She has translated poets like Anwar Nadeem and writers like Masroor Jahan. She is a formally trained filmmaker, having pursued a degree in mass communication from A.J.K. Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. She is also a member of Katha Kathan, a group of storytellers that do dramatized storytelling. Kallo is her debut translation.
