Mohammed Hanif
(Pakistan, 1964) made his debut in 2008 with A Case of Exploding Mangoes, which won awards instantly (the Commonwealth Book Prize for best debut, among others). A dark satire about the plane Crash killing general Zia, Pakistan's former president. An NCO who wants to take revenge after his father's death, tells the story. Hanif himself was a pilot in the airforce before woking as a journalist. He worked for Newsline, The Washington Post and India Today. In 1996 he became head of the Urdu-department of the BBC Worldservice in London. In 2008 he returned to Pakistan to work there as a journalist. His second novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (2011), is largely set in a Christian hospital in Karachi, the place where small daily dramas take place. Hanif: 'It is not the life CNN, FOX and Al Jazeera report on… For me that life is as exciting as the things happening on a worldwide scale.'
Past events
VPRO De Avonden Live: Mohammed Hanif and Wajahat Ali
Live radio. The whole evening Jeroen van Kan and Maarten Westerveen interview the writers of the festival. In English.
Around the World with Umar - LOL
Are writers present-day jesters and do they get away with mockery, as long as what they say is meant in jest? Three Pakistani writers, Wajahat Ali, Mohammed Hanif and Umar Mirza, cross swords, or rather: words, on this topic. With a humorous performance by Rodaan Al Galidi and music by the Iranian percussionist Mohammad Reza Mortazawi. English spoken.
