Our essential reads for the week
Anissa Helou is a London-based chef, teacher and author who specialises in cooking and writing recipes for Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and North African cuisines. Following a conversation with Helou at the recent Lahore Literary Festival Nida Bano Qureshi dives into the award winning chef’s work, her latest book, 𝘓𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯: 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘺 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, and how our plates reveal connection where politics insists on division.
The 10th Faiz Festival took place in Lahore from 13–15 February, featuring an array of writers, poets, artists and intellectuals. Rana Saadullah Khan found that the festival was a triumphant celebration of Urdu literature.
All eyes are on Pakistan’s cricket team ahead of the first match with India in the ICC Mens’ T20 World Cup 2026. To do well against India, or generally in the World Cup, the management needs to rise above the noise and go for a braver approach — one that in a very un-Pakistan-like way, chooses to prioritise data over gut feelings and popular perceptions, and looks beyond names.
For a society that loves visuals of love and the commercialism associated with it, our cities are designed to not accommodate it. The likelihood of meeting your lover at the nehr wala pul is impossible; you’re more likely to call them to the mall beyond the bridge. Why do we continue to persist with these images that have no bearing on reality?
The 14th edition of the Lahore Literary Festival took place from February 6th to 8th, 2026 at the Alhamra Arts Council where writers and artists gathered to explore ideas of cultural and heritage preservation.
The 14th iteration of the LLF returned with a focus on celebrating the region’s cultural heritage.
By Saba Imtiaz
By Umair Javed
By Maryam Jillani
By Haroon Sethi
Stories, Cultures, and Landscapes
Reflecting on the Zeitgeist
The 14th edition of the Lahore Literary Festival took place from February 6th to 8th, 2026 at the Alhamra Arts Council where writers and artists gathered to explore ideas of cultural and heritage preservation.
Feb 13, 2026
The 14th iteration of the LLF returned with a focus on celebrating the region’s cultural heritage.
Feb 12, 2026
The 14th edition of the Lahore Literary Festival took place from February 6th to 8th, 2026 at the Alhamra Arts Council where writers and artists gathered to explore ideas of cultural and heritage preservation.
Feb 13, 2026
The 14th iteration of the LLF returned with a focus on celebrating the region’s cultural heritage.
Feb 12, 2026
Anissa Helou is a London-based chef, teacher and author who specialises in cooking and writing recipes for Mediterranean...
When a major Pakistani political figure is hanged, OK Town erupts in protest. A few miles away, Sir Baghi is surprised b...
‘𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺: 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘈𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩’ by Uzair Younus wonders if instead of a collapse, we are on t...
In Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave: My Cemetery Journeys (2025), Argentine journalist and novelist Mariana Enriquez bl...
𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘶 by Fauzia Rafique, translated from the Punjabi by Haider Shahbaz (2025), follows Muhammad Hussain Khan ‘𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘶’ who...
Maha Khan Phillips takes us on a whirlwind, absorbing adventure in her fourth novel, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘮 𝘋𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦.
Following the 25th publication anniversary of Kamila Shamsie’s novel ‘Salt and Saffron’, Saba Imtiaz muses over how well...
The 2025 Booker Prize went to David Szalay for Flesh, his novel depicting the classic ‘man-of-few-words’ adapted for the...
SPORTS
All eyes are on Pakistan’s cricket team ahead of the first match with India in the ICC Mens’ T20 World Cup 2026. To do w...
SPORTS
For a country where young people make up a majority of the population, the potential of gaming as a career path remains...
At the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, the European Union and its leading member states were no longer willing to quietly acquiesce to Washington’s demands under President Donald Trump.
Trump’s interest in Greenland is not new. During his first term, his suggestion that the United States should ‘buy’ Greenland was widely mocked, dismissed as a diplomatic oddity. Ahmad Jamal Wattoo looks at the strategic logic beneath the spectacle.
Debt-for-climate swaps are no longer boutique transactions, but are being pitched as a central tool to help countries break free from the vicious cycle of debt distress and climate vulnerability. Can the G77+China succeed in making them more than symbolic, clever deals on the margins?
