Our essential reads for the week
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?
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.
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.
As the 17th Karachi Literature Festival unfolded against the backdrop of a ‘fragile world’, the focus was towards the powerful intersections of migration, media and memory. This year, the festival highlighted a unique cultural phenomenon: the rise of Gulf–South Asian narratives that challenge post-colonial boundaries. Through the lens of filmmakers, journalists and historians, KLF 2026 explored how the shared histories of the outside world and Pakistan are being reimagined for a new generation of readers and thinkers.
The most highly anticipated event of the year — Basant — has kicked off in Lahore. Rooftops are booked and set up, the kite trade is booming and you can feel the city pulsating with excitement. But are we chasing a nostalgic dream? Or will Basant be the same vibrant, communal activity most remember? Aiman Tahir Khan looks at the history of Basant, as the colourful kite-flying festival returns to Lahore after almost two decades.
By Saba Imtiaz
By Umair Javed
By Maryam Jillani
By Haroon Sethi
Stories, Cultures, and Landscapes
Reflecting on the Zeitgeist
Maheen Azmat looks at the traditional South Asian aangan as a laboratory where competing visions of South Asian womanhood were actively produced in response to colonialism and nationalism.
Jan 30, 2026
Ayza Khan explores the undercurrents of literary and cultural resistance at the ninth iteration of Afkar e Taza ThinkFest held in Lahore.
Jan 29, 2026
Maheen Azmat looks at the traditional South Asian aangan as a laboratory where competing visions of South Asian womanhood were actively produced in response to colonialism and nationalism.
Jan 30, 2026
Ayza Khan explores the undercurrents of literary and cultural resistance at the ninth iteration of Afkar e Taza ThinkFest held in Lahore.
Jan 29, 2026
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...
Zeenat Hisam’s Tamannaon Ke Deyaar Se is an anthology of translated poems from North American women poets. Rana Saadulla...
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?
