Intizar Husain has been called the greatest living writer in the Urdu language, a living legend, and Pakistan’s pre-eminent chronicler of change. His voice of compassion and insight is much needed, not only in his troubled homeland but wherever English-speaking readers know about Pakistan only through the mass media. His epic novel of the Partition, Basti, was short-listed for the 2013 Man Booker International Prize. His honors include the 2014 French Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.