Kallo and Other Stories

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 in this collection, 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.