The Life's Too Short Literary Review: New Writing from Pakistan

'I think prizes like [this], and the sense that Pakistani literature is as important to the fate of the country as its laws, will go a long way to encouraging more writing. In years to come I suspect we'll hear a lot more from every writer on this issue.' – John Freeman, editor of Granta

'An antidote to the usual anthology – there are groundbreaking things here.' – Ali Sethi, author of The Wish Maker

'It is good writing: entertaining, playful, and bold.' – Basharat Peer, author of Curfewed Night

'A smart, piquant and brilliantly diverse collection.' – Alex von Tunzelmann, author of Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire

The Life's Too Short Literary Review: New Writing from Pakistan brings together the winning entries from the inaugural Life's Too Short Short Story Prize as well as other selected works from Pakistan, like archival material from Mohsin Hamid's Man Booker-nominated The Reluctant Fundamentalist; an excerpt from Sabiha Bano's controversial Urdu work Challawa, translated by Mohammed Hanif; an excerpt from Rabbit Rap, Pakistan's first graphic novel; and architect and urban designer Attiq Uddin Ahmed's photo essay 'Sign Your Name Across My Heart'. The Indian edition also carries a bonus non-fiction piece by environmental lawyer Ahmad Rafay Alam.

The Life's Too Short Short Story Prize was founded by Faiza S. Khan and Aysha Raja in 2009 to encourage and promote new Pakistani writing through an open prize inviting entries of under 5000 words with winning entries selected by Mohammed Hanif, Daniyal Mueenuddin and Kamila Shamsie.