From Waris to Heer A Novel of Punjab

by Khalid, Haroon

• ISBN13: 9780143459101
• ISBN10: 0143459104
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2024-08-19
• Publisher: Vintage Books

Summary

Heer. The perfect beauty. Ranjha. The perfect lover.

Heer-Ranjha. The perfect love legend.

Waris Shah. Its creator.

From Waris to Heer narrates the story of Heer, Ranjha and Waris, and reimagines the story of the creation of the immortal love legend.

Written in the style of a qissa, the novel, much of which is set in a tumultuous period in eighteenth-century Punjab, evokes both the spirit and the style of the original text even as it makes the story relatable to a modern audience. Lyrically narrated, it is among the most moving novels of our time about the power of love and commitment in a society that seeks to shackle its youth and censor its writers.

Author Biography

Haroon Khalid has an academic background in anthropology. He got his undergraduate degree from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in social sciences with a focus on anthropology and history, and his graduate degree in anthropology from the University of Toronto. He has been a freelance journalist since 2008 and has written over 350 articles for numerous publications, including Al Jazeera, CBC, MacLean's, Scroll. in, Wire.in, TRT World, Himal, Dawn, News and Express Tribune. He has traveled extensively around Pakistan and has written about minority rights, folk traditions, the politicization of history and heritage, nationalism and identity, and several other topics.

Haroon is the author of four books: A White Trail (2013), In Search of Shiva (2015), Walking with Nanak (2016) and Imagining Lahore (2018). He has also written two short non-fiction books: Beyond the Other (2016) and The Enigma of Pakistani Identity (2017). In his work, Haroon explores fluid identities, traditions and religious practices that challenge the notion of exclusivist identities, which defines communities in South Asia today. His writings have been translated into many languages, including Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati and Italian. He is based in Toronto, Canada. From Waris to Heer is his first novel.