The Sahitya Akademi Award Winning (2018) Urdu novel ‘Rohzin’ by Mira Road-based author Rahman Abbas will be formally launched in the Karachi International Book Fair which is scheduled to be organized between 5th – 9th December 2019 in Expo Centre, Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan’s rights to publish the book is with ‘Aks Publications’.
Rohzin was first published in India in 2016 at the Jashn-e-Rekhta, Delhi and since then it has been widely debated in India, Pakistan, The Middle East, Canada, Switzerland, Paris and Germany.
Rahman Abbas, who recently completed his European Research tour for his next project said, “Very excited about the development. The Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF) is the biggest book fair in Pakistan. It is envisaged that this year also, the number of visitors at KIBF would be more than the earlier years. Many book lovers stand in long queues for their favourite author’s autograph, book bargain and cultural event. It will give me an opportunity to introduce myself to the Urdu lovers of Pakistan through my book. In this event, leading publishers are participating.”
Many scholars and literary critics have given their testimonial about the book and claimed that Rohzin is a major literary work in the contemporary Urdu fiction. Former President of Sahitya Akademi (New Delhi), Professor Gopichand Narang has said that Rohzin is an important turning point in the history of Urdu fiction. Sahitya Akademi Award-winning literary critic, Nizam Siddiqui, has said that no novel as major as Rohzin has appeared in the second decade of the 21st century in Urdu whereas critic Shafey Kidwai has said that with this novel Rahman Abbas raises the art of storytelling to a new level.
Achievement
In 2017, the Hindu Literary for Life festival hosted a session on Rohzin, where critic, Shafey Kidwai, discussed the novel with the author. The Seemanchal Literary Festival, TISS, Dehradun Literature Festivals and Kalaghoda festivals had invited the author to read out from the novel. In 2016, Rawal TV, Canada’s Urdu television network, broadcast an hour-long debate on the novel in which critics from India and Pakistan participated.
Rohzin grabbed the attention of German linguist and Urdu translator, Almuth Degener, who translated it for Draupadi Verlag under the German title “Die Stadt, Das Meer, Die Liebe”, (The City, the Sea and the Love). The translated version was launched in Switzerland in February 2018. Rahman Abbas was invited to Germany to undertake a literary tour from 23 March to 15 June 2018. The readings of Rohzin were held at South Asian Institute (Heidelberg University), Bonn University, Ev. Akademie (Villigst), Indian Consulate (Frankfurt), Café Mouseclick, Tisch Hochst, Pakban (Frankfurt), Lokalezeitung, Gonsenheim (Mainz), Pfalzer Hof Schonau (Bei, Heidelberg), Bickelmann Family (Heidelberg) and other places.
Recently, Penguin India has acquired the rights of Rohzin’s English translations. Next year, the book scheduled to get published. Similarly, the Vani Prakashan has acquired the rights of the manuscript in Hindi language and the book will be in the markets in early 2020.
