Musharraf Ali Farooqi


Musharraf Ali Farooqi is a Pakistani-Canadian author, translator, and storyteller. Farooqi was among the five writers shortlisted for Asia's most prestigious literary prize in 2012. In addition to his fiction and translation projects, he is working on establishing an Urdu language publishing program specializing in children's literature and classics. He founded the publishing house KITAB, launched the online index Urdu Thesaurus, and designed the interactive storytelling and reading initiative STORYKIT Program. These three projects have been integrated in an activity-based learning program for children.
The Merman and the Book of Power: A Qissa is his newest work.

Biography

Farooqi received his early education in Hyderabad, at St Bonaventure's High School. He later attended Model School and College in Hyderabad, Sindh and, afterwards, NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi for three years, though he did not finish his degree.
Farooqi is the author of the novel Between Clay and Dust, which was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. His earlier novel, The Story of a Widow, was shortlisted for the 2011 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and considered for the 2010 International Dublin Literary Award. Rabbit Rap is a modernist fable for young adults. His children's books include the collection The Amazing Moustaches of Moochhander the Iron Man and Other Stories, illustrated by Michelle Farooqi, which was shortlisted for the India ComicCon Award in the "Best Publication for Children" category, and the picture book The Cobbler's Holiday: or Why Ants Don't Wear Shoes.
Farooqi's translation of the 1871 version of Dastan-e Amir Hamza by Ghalib Lakhnavi and Abdullah Bilgrami was published in October 2007. He published the first book of a projected 24-volume translation of the world's first magical fantasy epic, Hoshruba, in 2009. A selection from his translation of contemporary Urdu poet Afzal Ahmed Syed's poetry was published by the Wesleyan University Press Poetry Series in 2010.
In 2023 he won the inaugural Armory Square Prize for Translation for his translation of Siddique Alam's collection The Kettledrum, to be published in 2024 by Open Letter Books.

Awards and honours

Novels

  • Between Clay and Dust: A Novel
  • The Story of a Widow
  • ''Salar Jang's Passion''

Qissas

The Merman and the Book of Power -
  • ''The Jinn Darazgosh''

Children's fiction

Monster Folktales from Pakistan -Tik-Tik: The Master of Time – children's novelRabbit Rap – an illustrated novel with art by Michelle FarooqiThe Amazing Moustaches of Moochhander the Iron Man & Other Stories – illustrated by Michelle Farooqi
  • ''The Cobbler's Holiday: or Why Ants Don’t Wear Shoes''

Translations

  • Rococo and Other Worlds – Selected Poetry of Afzal Ahmed Syed
  • The Beast – translation of Syed Muhammad Ashraf's Urdu novella Numberdar ka Neela
  • Hoshruba: The Land and the Tilism – originally published in Urdu as Tilism-e Hoshruba by Muhammad Husain Jah and Ahmed Husain Qamar
  • The Adventures of Amir Hamza – originally written in Urdu by Ghalib Lakhnavi
  • The Adventures of Amir Hamza
  • Mouse Pickle
  • Three Sindhi Folktales Chhabili the InnkeeperThe Ingenious Farkhanda and the Two ConditionsThe Adventures of a Trickster WomanThe Adventures of a SoldierThe Victim of MaliceThe Qissa of Azar Shah and Saman Rukh Bano
  • قصّہ آذر شاہ و سمن رُخ بانو
  • قصّۂ مقتولِ جفا
  • قصّہ شہزادی فرخندہ کا
  • قصّہ ایک عیّارہ کا

Folktale retellings in Urdu

  • پیٹو ریچھ اور شاندار کھچڑی 2019
  • بینگن شہزادی 2019
  • مٹریا اور پٹریا 2019
  • جوں چٹ پٹ 2018
  • پودنا اور پودنی 2017