Forum Pakistan

Hyder, Qurratulain (1927-)
Writer. An Urdu novelist and short story writer and a public figure, is the daughter of the famous writer Sajjad Hyder Yaldram. She graduated from Lucknow University and in 1947 moved to Pakistan, then lived in England before returning to India in 1951. She has been writing since she was 11 years old. Her main theme is the intellectual's role in the fast-moving modem world. Her early work is dominated by romantic tendencies: Sitaron ke Age ('Beyond the Stars'), 1947, a collection of stories; the novels Mere bhi Sanamkhane ('My Temples Too'), 1949 and Safina-i-Gham-i-Dil ('Boat of Heartache'), 1952. Hyder's later work leaned towards realism. Her work is noted for a wide range of original themes and intonations, marked by Muslim aristocratism and refinement: the novel Aag ka Daryaa ('River of Fire', 1959); Pat jar ki Awaz ('The Voice of Autumn', 1965); Roushni ki Raftar ('The Speed of Light', 1982); the short novel Chae ke Bagh ('Tea Plantations', 1965); and the family chronicle Kare Jahan Dara: He ('The World's Travails are Long'). Her work represents an Indo-Muslim cultural synthesis with elements of Western aesthetics. She is the winner of several literary prizes, including the Bharatiya Gnanpith