Our essential reads for the week
Some of our frequent collaborators share the best media they consumed in 2025.
Our team and columnists pick out the best media they consumed this year.
Faisal Kapadia’s post-Strings journey shows that evolution does not require erasure. It can be quiet, thoughtful and still powerful. This was evidenced at Phir Milenge, a recent musical tour.
Nikkay Kay Paye, said to have been established in 1826 in Peshawar, is a favourite haunt for citizens in the colder months. Furqan Ali goes on his annual paye adventure and reflects on the city of Peshawar.
South Korea and Pakistan once had a lot in common, but the economic trajectories of the two nations have been vastly different. While there is much to admire about South Korea’s economic success, it may not necessarily be Seoul’s gleaming skyscrapers or its chaebols that Pakistan should try to replicate.
Following the 25th publication anniversary of Kamila Shamsie’s novel ‘Salt and Saffron’, Saba Imtiaz muses over how well it has held up in its observations of a city that has decimated and patched itself several times over in the past 25 years.
By Saba Imtiaz
By Umair Javed
By Maryam Jillani
By Haroon Sethi
Stories, Cultures, and Landscapes
Reflecting on the Zeitgeist
There are multiple obstacles to transforming public libraries in Pakistan into spaces that can foster a sustainable literary ecosystem. The tragedy unfolds on many levels, ranging from the economic to socio-behavioural aspects. Reinvigorating this crucial public institution requires thoughtful reimagining that puts libraries at the centre of a community.
Dec 19, 2025
The Sunday Book Bazaar in Lahore, located along the footpaths on the corner of the historic Anarkali and Mall Road, provides a distinctive lens into how reading culture and knowledge access are shaped by urban informality, economic stratification and spatial politics.
Dec 19, 2025
There are multiple obstacles to transforming public libraries in Pakistan into spaces that can foster a sustainable literary ecosystem. The tragedy unfolds on many levels, ranging from the economic to socio-behavioural aspects. Reinvigorating this crucial public institution requires thoughtful reimagining that puts libraries at the centre of a community.
Dec 19, 2025
The Sunday Book Bazaar in Lahore, located along the footpaths on the corner of the historic Anarkali and Mall Road, provides a distinctive lens into how reading culture and knowledge access are shaped by urban informality, economic stratification and spatial politics.
Dec 19, 2025
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...
Rabih Alameddine’s The True True Story of Raja The Gullible (and His Mother) recently became the first Arab-American wor...
Lahore in Motion: Infrastructure, History and Belonging in Urban Pakistan (UCL Press, 2025), edited by Ammara Maqsood, C...
In Adrian A. Husain’s second collection of sonnets, Knife of the Tide (The Peepul Press, 2025), recollection is not mere...
SPORTS
For a country where young people make up a majority of the population, the potential of gaming as a career path remains...
SPORTS
What explains Padel’s recent explosive popularity in urban Pakistan?
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?
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.
