Our essential reads for the week
33-year old Zain Ali runs a slow-fashion label, ZN ALI, inspired by his style icons: 20th century architects, his own family, and friends. His focus is on versatility, ease and excellent fabric. He, like his label, transcends the typical binaries: he’s British and Pakistani, a lover of craft as well as innovation, a preserver of heritage as well as a savvy millenial, an artist with proven social impact, a ‘party girl’ and an intellectual. Tehmina Khan speaks to him about his practice and curating the ‘Sustainable Fashion and Textile Symposium’ in Lahore.
Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for mayor of New York City has been one of the most-followed political events of the year, by those in America and abroad; his recent win makes it even more historic. But, does this win signal shifting tides in US politics, both internal and external?
Anum Peerzada presents a visual map of her experience during the 5-day residency, Street Foods: Queens of the Everyday, curated and led by Nahla Tabbaa. Participants mapped, researched, embodied, tasted and listened to the streets of Gawalmandi and Delhi Gate, ending their time with an interactive installation at the Indus Conclave 2025.
One month ago Lahore played host to the Indus Conclave 2025, where artists, writers and intellectuals gathered to rethink balance, belonging, ideas of progress and what it means to build the Global South. Misha Anwar looks back.
Mother Mary Comes To Me by acclaimed author and activist Arundhati Roy is not just a memoir about a complicated mother — it’s the origin story of a voice that shaped a generation.
A craft essay about making bolognese and how friendship is indispensable to the work of writers.
By Saba Imtiaz
By Umair Javed
By Maryam Jillani
By Haroon Sethi
Stories, Cultures, and Landscapes
Reflecting on the Zeitgeist
The 6th edition of the Gandhara Independent Film Festival recently took place at NAPA, Karachi. With films from over 10 countries and a sizable local contingent, the festival continued to provide a platform for independent voices in cinema.
Oct 29, 2025
The Indus Conclave 2025 gathered writers, artists, intellectuals and activists from the Global South and beyond in Lahore to discuss the most pressing issues of our times.
Oct 24, 2025
The 6th edition of the Gandhara Independent Film Festival recently took place at NAPA, Karachi. With films from over 10 countries and a sizable local contingent, the festival continued to provide a platform for independent voices in cinema.
Oct 29, 2025
The Indus Conclave 2025 gathered writers, artists, intellectuals and activists from the Global South and beyond in Lahore to discuss the most pressing issues of our times.
Oct 24, 2025
In a country plagued with literacy problems and lack of institutional support, can book reviewers be the catalysts in nu...
Mother Mary Comes To Me by acclaimed author and activist Arundhati Roy is not just a memoir about a complicated mother —...
How many selves must one carry to be seen as one? Ammar Yasir explores the central conceit behind a lesser-known Dostoev...
Arundhati Roy’s latest offering, Mother Mary Comes To Me, is an unflinching look at a difficult childhood and a fraught...
Picking up George Orwell’s 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟰 as an adult, Taha Ali finds the book to be a revelation. Could it be because this nightm...
In 𝘈 𝘚𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, Dur e Aziz Amna’s second novel, she writes about Tara, a woman who, like her name, is chasing a star o...
In September 2012, over 250 workers perished in a fire at Ali Enterprises, a garment factory in Karachi working for a Ge...
Hiromi Kawakami’s Under the Eye of the Big Bird (translated by Asa Yoneda, and shortlisted for the International Booker...
SPORTS
What explains Padel’s recent explosive popularity in urban Pakistan?
SPORTS
In recent years Pakistan has seen a bleak period in the T20I cricket arena. However, does the series clean sweep against...
The USA, for decades, has been at the forefront of cutting edge research and tech development; the H-1B visa has arguably played a major role in this, as global talent gravitates towards leading American institutions, whether in tech, medicine or academia. With President Trump’s new $100K talent tariff policy, the world wonders whether this will lead to a brain drain away from the USA.
The 19th International Architecture Exhibition, titled 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘴. 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭. 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭. 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦., curated by Carlo Ratti and organised by La Biennale di Venezia opened in May 2025. A team of eight dedicated Pakistani architects and researchers presented (𝘍𝘳)𝘈𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴, while facing bureaucratic hurdles, visa and shipment delays and the four-day war back home. Zoya Gul Hasan walks us through the installation and ponders Pakistan's future at international art biennales.
Universe in a Grain of Salt’, curated by Noorjehan Bilgrami for the Pakistan Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, features pink rock salt structures and art that mesmerises audiences through the lens of geological and urban history, spanning eons with moments of serenity.
