Joginder Paul (1925–2016) was born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan). His first
story was published in the well-known Urdu journal Saqi in 1945, while his first book of short stories in Urdu, Dharti
ka Kaal, was published in 1962. The partition of the country resulted in his
migration to Ambala as a refugee. His marriage led to another migration — to
Kenya, where he taught English, throughout expressing in his stories the angst
of being in exile. Back in India in 1965, he was principal of a college in
Aurangabad, Maharashtra, for another fourteen years before coming to settle in Delhi
for full-time writing.
Joginder Paul published over thirteen
collections of short stories, including Khula,
Khodu Baba ka Maqbara and Bastian. Amongst his novels are Ek Boond Lahoo Ki, Nadeed, Paar Pare,
and Khwabro. He published four
collections of flash fiction (afsaanche), a genre with which he is known to
have enriched Urdu fiction significantly. A number of his novels and short
stories have been translated into Hindi, English and other languages in India
and abroad. His fiction books have been previously published many times in
English.
Paul is a recipient of many important
literary honours, including the SAARC Lifetime Award, Iqbal Samman, Urdu
Academy Award, All India Bahadur Shah Zafar Award, Shiromani Award, and Ghalib
Award. He was also honoured at Qatar with an international award for
contributing to creative writing in Urdu. His fiction has received a lot of
critical acclaim, and many Urdu journals in India and Pakistan have published
special issues on him. His fiction has been translated into many languages in
India and abroad.
Land Lust is a translation of Dharti
ka Kaal, Joginder Paul’s first collection of short stories in Urdu.