Houston, Texas: Bapsi Sidhwa, one of Pakistan’s most iconic English-language novelists, passed away on December 25, 2024, at the age of 86.
Born in Karachi in 1938 to a Gujarati Parsi family, Sidhwa spent her formative years in Lahore. The harrowing experiences of the 1947 Partition profoundly influenced her literary work. After completing her BA from Kinnaird College for Women in Lahore in 1957, she immigrated to the United States in 1983, where she continued her writing career.
Sidhwa’s literary contributions include some of Pakistan’s most celebrated works, such as The Crow Eaters, An American Brat, The Pakistani Bride, and City of Sin and Splendour: Writings on Lahore. Her groundbreaking novel Ice-Candy Man (1988), known in the U.S. as Cracking India, explored the trauma of the Partition and was adapted into the 1998 film Earth by renowned filmmaker Deepa Mehta.
Another of her novels, Water: A Novel, served as the foundation for Mehta’s acclaimed 2005 film Water. Apart from her writing, Sidhwa taught at prestigious institutions, including Columbia University and the University of Houston, mentoring aspiring writers and academics.
Her literary excellence was recognized with numerous accolades, including the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Writer’s Award, the Mondello Prize for Foreign Authors, and the Sir Syed Day Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Literature. In 1991, she was awarded Pakistan’s highest civilian honor in the arts, the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, and was inducted into the Zoroastrian Hall of Fame.
Sidhwa’s legacy as a pioneering voice in English literature continues to inspire readers worldwide, leaving an indelible mark on the literary landscape.
