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Contributor

Muhammad Umar Memon

Contributor

Muhammad Umar Memon

Photograph: Alain Désoulièrs.

Muhammad Umar Memon is emeritus professor of Urdu, Persian and Islamic Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His collection of short stories, Tareek Galee, appeared in 1989. He has translated widely from English and Arabic into Urdu and from Urdu into English....

His translations from Urdu include The Essence of Camphor and Snake Catcher, both by Naiyer Masud, and several other collections of short stories, including The Tale of the Old Fisherman, The Colour of Nothingness, Domains of Fear and Desire and An Epic Unwritten. He is the general editor of the Pakistan Writers Series, OUP, Karachi, and also editor of the Annual of Urdu Studies.

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Articles by Muhammad Umar Memon

Dustland

By Naiyer Masud

During the red and yellow storms I even went out and watched the landscape changing color.

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

You’re Where You’ve Always Been

Standing before a poster of Marilyn Monroe / Unbidden I salute her beauty.

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

Of Fists and Rubs

By Ismat Chughtai

“But Ratti Bai, when you earn forty rupees, why whore around?”

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

Urdu Fiction from India: An Introduction

By Muhammad Umar Memon

Notwithstanding President Barack Obama’s delightful disclosure that he likes Urdu poetry, few in the West know anything about this language and even less about its otherwise vibrant literature.

Destitutes Compound

By Naiyer Masud

For some time I thought about Childhood Love. What a strange name! Was it some woman? Some old flame of Murad Mian? What state must she be in now?

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

Beyond the Fog

By Qurratulain Hyder

“People regard her as no more than a tart. Do you really want your daughter to become a striptease dancer in some hotel?”

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

The Pose

The moment he saw her, his hand stopped dead, his mouth fell open, and his eyes widened. She stared at the cop sweetly.

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

Fable of a Severed Head

By Sajid Rashid

Although the picture of the unclaimed head didn’t exactly resemble his brother’s, the slightly curved nose and the scar above the upper lip were exactly like Chotto’s

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

Two Old Kippers

By Siddique Alam

“Why don’t we toss a coin. Heads you’ll live longer, tails I will.”

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

A Sheet

By Salam Bin Razzaq

A scrawny young man ran out of a narrow alley. His wrists were bound behind him and his clothes were on fire. “Help! Help!” he was shouting. “Water! Water!”

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

Methun

By Rajinder Singh Bedi

Magan hesitated, fumbling for words, and then said, “Why, you could make a Gandhi, a Nehru . . .” And as if he’d made a mistake, he quickly corrected himself, “A nude, for instance.”

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

The Saga of Jaanki Raman Pandey

By Zakia Mashhadi

“I used to be a simple, unpretentious Hindu. I got mixed up with you and became a fake Muslim. Then I didn’t even stay a true Hindu. I have become a complete heretic, what you might call an atheist.”

Translated from Urdu by Faruq Hassan & Muhammad Umar Memon

Pink Pigeons—Was It They Who Won?

By Fahmida Riaz

The tiny leaves break into applause. What are these trees called? I ask the interpreter.

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

The Man With Three Names

By Asad Muhammad Khan

He had three names: Majeeta, Majeed and Ma'i Dada

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon

Do You Suppose It’s the East Wind?

By Altaf Fatima

The enormous weight of three hundred and sixty-five days once again slips from my hand and falls down into the dark cavern of the past.

Translated from Urdu by Muhammad Umar Memon