Join us for Nani Ghar's first literary reading circle, we will get a taste of many such stories across a century of Urdu speculative fiction, covering genres such as science fiction, fantasy, horror, and suspense.

A robot appears in an enchanted land, fighting tricksters and a fire-breathing dragon; a witch-doctor brings back to life her dead husband in a small village in Kashmir; two lovers attempt a romance across the vast distances of interplanetary travel; a doctor secretly experiments on plague-ridden corpses—speculative fiction in Urdu is a treasure-trove of marvels and wonders.

This is a space meant to bring together people with varying levels of comfort with Urdu reading. This reading circle is for fans of speculative fiction who want a taste of the genre(s) in Urdu as well as for Urdu readers who are new to speculative fiction. We will spend the first half of our time reading together in the original Urdu. In the next half, we will discuss the story's various themes, world-building, characters, and prose style. As we read each story, participants will be provided with a glossary of words to aid in understanding, and our discussions will be geared towards both comprehension and appreciation.

The reading circle is meant to learn as well as to spark creativity, and it will culminate in participants showcasing their own work inspired by the stories we read—artwork, comic adaptations of a story, original creative work in speculative fiction genres, literary translations and more!

📅 Wednesdays, 2nd July to 13th August

⌛ 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

🎫 PKR 500 / Session, or PKR 3000 for all 7 sessions

Center for Arts-based Methodologies & Wellbeing

50/3 Maqboolabad Society, Sharfabad, Bahadurabad, Karachi