Seeking Father Khaliq is a modern allegory about one man’s search for spiritual fulfillment. Set in the Middle East, Philosophy Professor Kareem al-Busiri teaches at a prestigious Egyptian university. The professor is persuaded to undertake important pilgrimages. He falls in love with a colleague, while attempting to manage mortal conflicts of values and ideology between his two sons. Carefully researched and constructed, this dynamic story reflects the current religious, political, and social turmoil of the region. Seeking Father Khaliq is unique in its Middle East setting, and its focus on Islam, as well as elements of Christianity and Judaism. The use of the jihadist conflict in Egypt as a surrogate for larger regional conflicts, the religious pilgrimages, and the resolution of inter-faith marriage issues are also highlighted.

Sarah, a free-spirited artist in her late twenties, accepts an assignment from her granduncle, Albert Smithson, to write his memoir. ‘Bertie’ has a crippling terror of death brought about by the agonising death of his father, who was an atheist. He learns that there are three conditions one must attain to die in a peaceful state. At age fifty-four, he has none of them and is determined to achieve them all.

What happens when a Black American billionaire with feral business instincts engages with a violent Sicilian Mafia family? Will his wealth become the justification for an affair that funds a migrant charity? The billionaire and his wife, the migrant charity couple, and the Mafia family find that they are neighbors in the mysterious Nebrodi Mountains of Sicily. Jerry Johnson, an African American billionaire from the Bronx, New York, and his young Spanish wife, Balencia Hidalgo, an accomplished artist, have renovated and enlarged their 18th-century residence in the small village of Gabiana in the Nebrodi Mountains. The Johnson’s new neighbours are David and Eva Pretorius, who work for a refugee charity in Sicily. Situated between the two couples is the Forio family, of which Salvatore (known as Shorty) is the head. Shorty has a wife and three married children living with him, and they are Mafia. “This is a fast-paced, action-packed tale that skillfully showcases love, family, tragedy, and loss amidst a bevy of criminal activity.” – Blue Ink Reviews

The attack on Mumbai shocked the world. For three days terrorists wreaked havoc over multiple venues in India’s commercial capital, leaving a trail of blood, death and destruction. Reporters from Hindustan Times tracked the events as they unfolded at Cama Hospital, the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and followed the three-day siege at the Taj and Trident Hotels and at Nariman House. The collection brings together their dispatches as well as commentaries, profiles and columns published during the siege and its aftermath. This is a dramatic snapshot of the victims, heroes and perpetrators of the attacks and also of the outrage that still grips the nation.

Includes reviews of works written in languages of lesser currency, news from PEN Centres, original works, and papers delivered at International PEN congresses.

This is how we are, Narjis. We're those, whose dreams were not in harmony with their reality, as we were born at a time, other than their time, in a world, other than their world. So don't make your children bear responsibility for our history, which was contaminated by fanaticism, ignorance and other countless infectious diseases. For, our heritage is heavy, Narjis. Our heritage is heavy, and we, alone, should bear the evil consequences of our weakness. We left those epidemics eat into our heads, like worms, gobbling the remnants of our dreams, just as we left the worry of expatriation eat gradually into our souls. Meanwhile, we remained submissive, incapable of changing our life. We're, without formality, passive people. So, by God, Narjis, leave my daughter, now, to dream, as long as there is room, in her life, for dreams.

Seeking Father Khaliq is a modern allegory about one man’s search for spiritual fulfillment. Set in the Middle East, Philosophy Professor Kareem al-Busiri teaches at a prestigious Egyptian university. The professor is persuaded to undertake important pilgrimages. He falls in love with a colleague, while attempting to manage mortal conflicts of values and ideology between his two sons. Carefully researched and constructed, this dynamic story reflects the current religious, political, and social turmoil of the region. Seeking Father Khaliq is unique in its Middle East setting, and its focus on Islam, as well as elements of Christianity and Judaism. The use of the jihadist conflict in Egypt as a surrogate for larger regional conflicts, the religious pilgrimages, and the resolution of inter-faith marriage issues are also highlighted.