Altaf Fatima is an Urdu

Urdu

Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

 novelist. Her novel Dastak Na Do (Do not knock) has enjoyed a lot of success and is widely regarded as one of the defining works in the Urdu

Urdu

Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

 language. An adaptation was presented on Pakistan television and an abridged translation was serialised by the prestigious Karachi monthly, Herald.

Early life

Altaf Fatima was the second of four children born in a muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 household in Lucknow

Lucknow

Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, to Fazle Mohammad Amin and his wife Jahan Mumtaz.

Later life

She is currently resident in Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. She now lives a retired life and has discontinued her literary works.

Additional information

Altaf Fatima's novel Dastak Na Do has been translated into English by Rukhsana Ahmed.

Works

Novels

• Nishaan-i-Mehfil
• Dastak Naa Do (do not knock)
• Chulta Musafir
• Khwabger

Collection of Short Stories

• Woh Jisay Chaha Gaya
• Jub Diwaaren Girya Kurti Hain
• Taar-i-Unkaboot

Translations

• To Kill A Mocking Bird into Urdu
  Urdu
  Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
  
  
• Barrey Aadmi, Aur Unke Nazariyat, a collection of political essays

External links

• The One Who Did Not Ask, on Amazon
• Authors: Altaf Fatima on Heinemann