September 19, 2025
Time:
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
A-11, Academic Block, LUMS
The Gurmani Centre for Languages and Literature invites you to an engaging conversation with acclaimed novelist Osama Siddique. The session will trace the creative path of a writer who has contributed richly to both English and Urdu literature, offering insights into the intersections, challenges, and possibilities that arise when moving between languages and literary traditions. More than a shift in expression, this journey reflects a crossing of worlds, sensibilities, and cultural inheritances, opening fresh ways of imagining stories and reshaping themes within new literary landscapes.
The conversation will be moderated by Zahid Hassan, distinguished Punjabi novelist, poet, and literary scholar.
About the Author
Osama Siddique is a teacher, researcher, author, lawyer, and policy expert. He pursued law at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and later earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in law from Harvard University. He has taught and worked in diverse academic and professional contexts, including at LUMS. His book Pakistan’s Experience with Formal Law: An Alien Justice (Cambridge University Press) has won multiple awards and is recognised as a significant contribution to the legal history of the subcontinent. His historical novel Snuffing Out the Moon was first published by Penguin Random House and received wide recognition. Its Urdu translation, Chand Ko Gul Karen To Hum Janen, by Asim Bakhshi, further expanded its readership. He has also published Ghuroob-e-Shehr ka Waqt, a notable Urdu work, and The Jurisprudence of Dissolutions. His interests encompass world literature, regional stories and narratives, historical research, travel, ancient ruins, old trees, reform initiatives, and meaningful human relationships.
About the Moderator
Zahid Hassan (real name Zahid Hussain) has been affiliated with the Gurmani Centre for Language and Literature for nearly a decade, where he teaches Punjabi and actively contributes to the Centre’s academic and literary events. He is a poet, novelist, and prominent literary figure in the Punjabi language. He has received several national awards, along with the prestigious Dhahan International Prize for Punjabi Literature. He has published several books of fiction, poetry, research, and literary criticism in Punjabi. His works include the novels Ishaq Lataare Aadmi, Ghalichaa Unnan Wali, Qissa Aashiqaan, Tassi Dharti, and Kahani ek Maa di, the short story collections Panjah Varhian di Udaasi and Hijr Tera Je Pani Mangay; as well as several volumes of poetry, research, and criticism. At the Gurmani Centre, he also serves as the editor of Numūd, a multilingual student magazine.
