Between Quarantine and Quest launched.

KARACHI -- A book titled Between Quarantine and Quest - A Bilingual Anthology of Art, Poetry and Writings edited by Naila Mahmood and Syed Kashif Raza was launched at the Canvas Art Gallery on Saturday evening.

Ms Mahmood was the first one to address the audience, which had filled up the gallery space quickly. She took the names of, and thanked, the people who have contributed to the publication. She also extended her gratitude to those who had funded the project.

Mr Raza, who looked after the Urdu part of the book, spoke next. He said the basic idea behind the book was to compile a bilingual anthology of the works produced during or about the pandemic. Giving credit to his co-editor for the effort, he remarked that he was astonished to see the kind of artworks that came out in that period which Ms Mahmood managed find and include in the compilation.

He informed the audience that comparatively Urdu's was a smaller section. He pointed out that in the past most of the Urdu writers came from the UP region of India but then the centre shifted to Punjab. Now a new phenomenon is being witnessed, which is that some foreigners (non-Pakistanis whose mother tongue is not Urdu) are also writing in the Urdu language.

For example, Julien Columeau, who is a French national, is writing in Urdu. He also mentioned a Turkish writer that has...