Fawzia Afzal-Khan ( Urdu: فوزیہ افضل خان; born 1958 in Lahore, Pakistan) is a professor of English and director of the Women and Gender Studies Program ^[1] at Montclair State University. Afzal-Khan received her BA from Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore, Pakistan, and her MA and PhD in English Literature from Tufts University. ^[2] A University Distinguished Professor, ^[3] Afzal-Khan was awarded The "Excellence in Public Life Award" by the American Muslim Alliance in 2008. ^[4] Afzal-Khan also serves on the editorial board of Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies. ^[5]

Scholarly work

Author of three monographs ^[6] and two edited volumes, ^[7] Afzal-Khan has published extensively in academic journals as well as in newspapers ^[8] and on public blogs ^[9] on issues related to postcolonial studies, feminism, and political Islam. ^[10]

Memoir: Lahore with Love

Afzal-Khan's memoir, Lahore with Love: Growing up with Girlfriends Pakistani Style, was published in 2010 by Syracuse University Press. The memoir was immediately received as a fine contribution to the women's rights issues in Pakistan. ^[11] The first edition contained commending blurbs from prominent authors and scholars: Nawal El Saadawi called it a "beautiful memoir which challenges stereotypes, universal fanatic fundamentalism and religious, political, and sexual taboos" and Henry Louis Gates Jr. found it to be a memoir that "weaves together memory and desire to create a tale that is marvelously compelling and endlessly entertaining, at once poignantly personal and richly political." ^[12]

However, despite its positive reception, the book was soon dropped by Syracuse University Press due to the fear of a lawsuit from a prominent Pakistani woman who claimed that a character depicted in the book was based on her. ^[13] The cancellation of the book by an academic press for fear of a lawsuit became an important issue in academic circles. Since the cancellation of the book, various academics, writers, and editors have supported Afzal-Khan in her right to free speech. ^[14] In an editorial, Richard Schechner and Katherine Lieder of The Drama Review castigated the Syracuse University Press for not standing up for the rights of free speech of one of their own authors. ^[15]

Afzal-Khan has now published the memoir independently through the Amazon publishing platform. ^[16] In 2011, Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies published a special cluster of articles about the book, ^[17] along with an interview with Afzal-Khan about the controversy. ^[18] Pakistaniaat had previously published an interview with Fawzia in 2009, which was conducted by Nilanshu Kumar Agarwal. ^[19]

Bibliography

• Cultural Imperialism and the Indo-English Novel Genre and Ideology in R. K. Narayan, Anita Desai, Kamala Markandaya, and Salman Rushdie. University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press. 1993. ISBN  9780271009124.
• Afzal-Khan, Fawzia; Seshadri-Crooks, Kalpana (2000). The Pre-occupation of Postcolonial Studies. London, Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN  0822324865.
• Shattering the stereotypes : Muslim women speak out. Northampton, Massachusetts: Olive Branch Press. 2005. ISBN  1566565693.
• A critical stage: the role of secular alternative theatre in Pakistan. Calcutta: Seagull Books. 2005. ISBN  8170462754.
• Lahore with love: growing up with girlfriends, Pakistani-style. La Vergne, Tennessee: Insanity Ink Publications. 2010. ISBN  9781456462192.
• Pakistani creative writing in English. Johnstown, Pennsylvania: South Asian Literary Association. 2011.
• Siren Song: Understanding pakistan through its women singers. Pakistan: Oxford University Press. 2020. ISBN  978-0190700546.

References

External links

• Montclair State Faculty Profile
• Lahore with Love
• [1] Interview