Published Articles
From mother to motherland
Rizwan Akhtar| The News on Sunday | November 02, 2025
In her new memoir, Arundhati Roy turns the story of her mother into an inquiry about love and rebellion
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1354867-from-mother-to-motherland
A poetic journey
Rizwan Akhtar| Literati | January 28, 2024
Remembering Derek Walcott’s poetry class
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1151549-a-poetic-journey
An affable dissident
Rizwan Akhtar| Literati | July 23, 2023
Milan Kundera’s wit challenged exile and Stalinism, fostering faith in the democracy of the written word.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1093041-an-affable-dissident
The departed muse
Rizwan Akhtar | Literati | October 23, 2022
Majeed Amjad’s meeting with a German girl had a tremendous influence on his poetry and his life.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1002081-the-departed-muse
The curious case of withering whiteness
Rizwan Akhtar | Literati | September 18, 2022
An enduring preoccupation with racism as humanity’s inimitable challenge.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/991881-the-curious-case-of-withering-whiteness
The poet who flinched from the limelight
Rizwan Akhtar | Literati | August 21, 2022
Philip Larkin’s reputation as a man may have suffered recently. However, his place among the 20th Century poets stays intact
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/983663-the-poet-who-flinched-from-the-limelight
Prometheus reignited
Rizwan Akhtar | Literati | July 31, 2022
200 years after the mysterious death of the revolutionary poet, PB Shelley, his poetry continues to provide answers to the evils of authoritarianism and religious oppression
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/977965-prometheus-reignited
An émigré at home with all and none
Rizwan Akhtar | Literati | July 17, 2022
Zulfikar Ghose (1935-2022) suffered from academic neglect in his life but his attention to aesthetic design, literary style and subject matter was second almost to none
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/973924-an-migr-at-home-with-all-and-none
Playful and political
Rizwan Akhtar | Literati | April 3, 2012
Wislawa Szymborska believed that only creativity can save humanity from degradation.
https://jang.com.pk/thenews/mar2012-weekly/nos-04-03-2012/lit.htm#2
Life of an exile
Rizwan Akhtar | Literati | February 18, 2024
The life and times of Joseph Brodsky, the exiled Russian poet.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1158295-life-of-an-exile
An African Prometheus laid to rest
Rizwan Akhtar | Literati | June 08, 2025
Ng g wa Thiong defied empire and language, and in doing so, reshaped the literary and political imagination of a continent.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1318799-an-african-prometheus-laid-to-rest
