Veteran Pakistan author Intizar Hussain passes away

Veteran Pakistani short story writer, novelist, journalist and poet Intizar Husain passed away today at a hospital in Lahore. The 92-year-old was undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

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The Dawn reported that Hussain has several novels translated from Urdu into English, including Naya Ghar and Basti. He was also a regular columnist for the Dawn.

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Hussain was born at Dibai in Bulandshahr district. His date of birth remains controversial.

He did his intermediate in 1942, B A in 1944 and M A (Urdu) in 1946 from Meerut College.

He migrated to Lahore in 1947 and served various newspapers, but retired from the Mashriq daily in 1988 and began working as a freelance journalist and writer.

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His books include Gali Koochay, Kankari, Din Aur Dastan, Shehr-i-afsos, Kachhuay, Khaimay Say Door, Khali Pinjra, Morenama and Sheharzad Kay Naam.

Despite being read and loved by many, Hussain kept a low profile and rarely gave interviews.

In an interview with the Dawn, he once said that he was 'a story writer not a reformer.'

Intizar Hussain was conferred the 'Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters' by the French Ambassador to Pakistan Philppe Thiebaud in September 2014.

He was among the 10 finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction in 2013.