KARACHI: For the first time in the history of children’s Urdu literature, the translation of short stories from Urdu into English has been appeared.
Titled as ‘The Tale of Noses,’ the book is a collection of translated stories that were earlier appeared in Mahnama Sathee, a premier monthly magazine for kids.
Comprising a total of twenty-four short stories for children, the book features many Urdu writers from Pakistan who have been laboring to keep the children’s Urdu literature breathing despite all odds and challenges. Among the most notable names are: Nazir Anbalvi, Rauf Parekh, Ahmed Hatib Siddiqui, Fouzia Khalil, Seema Siddiqui, Bina Siddiqui, Hammad Zaheer, Shazia Farheen and many others. The English translation has been done by Fatima Noor Siddiqui, Rahima Khan and Huda Saad Syed.
Azam Tariq Kohistani, Editor, Mahnama Sathee said there is a treasure of the finest stories produced in Urdu language, which must be transferred into English and other major languages of the world.
“In Pakistan, there has been a long-held tradition of translating work from English, German, French, Japanese, Hindi and other languages. However, the trend of translating work from Urdu into other major languages is not that common. More’s the pity, the fact stays true, particularly when it comes to children’s Urdu literature,” Kohistani added.
“The translation is a long hard process, but I hope these stories will forever roam around the globe, finding children and inspiring them,” says Fatima Noor Siddiqui, the chief translator of the book ‘The Tale of Noses.’
