Urdu: The Best Stories of Our Times, edited and translated by Rakhshanda Jalil, presents a kaleidoscopic vision of the current literary landscape by bringing together some of the finest contemporary writers of fiction. In these pages, we find stories about the land and its people in wide-ranging tones: compassionate, sarcastic, whimsical, witty, tragic, but always thrilling and enchanting in equal measure. The stories highlight the numerous histories, identities and themes that have been celebrated or challenged in the last few decades. Appearing in English for the first time, this landmark volume offers an exhilarating glimpse into Urdu literature today.

Dr Rakhshanda Jalil is a multi-award-winning translator, writer and literary historian. She has published over twenty-five books, among which are translations of Gulzar's Footprints on Zero Line: Writings on the Partition (HarperCollins, 2017) and his collected poems, Baal-o-Par (HarperCollins, 2024), as well as The Temple and the Mosque: The Best of Premchand (HarperCollins, 2011), The Sea Lies Ahead, a translation of Intizar Husain's seminal novel (HarperCollins, 2015) and a collection of essays, But You Don't Look Like a Muslim (HarperCollins, 2019). She runs an organization called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularization of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture.