Zulfikar Ghose
Encyclopedia
Zulfikar Ghose is a novelist, poet and essayist. A native of Pakistan who has long lived in Texas, he writes in the surrealist mode of much Latin American fiction
, blending fantasy and harsh realism.
and the present India
, Ghose and his family emigrated to England
. He graduated from Keele University in 1959 and taught at Ealing Mead School in London.
He became a close friend of British experimental writer B. S. Johnson
, with whom he collaborated on several projects, and of Anthony Smith
. The three writers met when they served as joint editors of an annual anthology of student poets called Universities' Poetry. Ghose also met English poet Ted Hughes
and his wife, the American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath
, and American author Janet Burroway
, with whom he occasionally collaborated.
While teaching and writing in London from 1963–1969, Ghose also free-lanced as a sports journalist, reporting on cricket for The Observer
newspaper. Two collections of his poetry were published, The Loss of India (1964) and Jets From Orange (1967), along with an autobiography called Confessions of a Native-Alien (1965) and his first two novels, The Contradictions (1966) and The Murder of Aziz Khan (1969). The Contradictions explores differences between Western and Eastern attitudes and ways of life.
In 1964, Ghose married Helena de la Fontaine, an artist from Brazil (a country he later used as the setting for six of his novels). He moved from London to the United States in 1969 to teach at the University of Texas in Austin, where he has lived for 40 years.
In the 1970s, Ghose gained international repute with his trilogy The Incredible Brazilian, which American writer Thomas Berger called "a picaresque prose epic of Brazilian history." American travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux
called the work "a considerable feat of imagination."
Ghose has written poetry and prose (both fiction and non-fiction). His books of poetry include The Violent West, A Memory of Asia and Selected Poems. He has written short stories, novels and five books of literary criticism.
Ghose's correspondence with Berger, spanning 40 years, is housed for research purposes at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin. The letters cover topics such as their writing projects, books they were reading and personal concerns.
Berger's dystopic 1973 novel Regiment of Women was dedicated to Ghose.
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
, blending fantasy and harsh realism.
Biography
Ghose grew up in a Muslim family in Sialkot in the Punjab province. His father Khwaja Mohammed Ghose was a businessman and moved with the family to Bombay (now Mumbai) during the Second World War in 1942. After the partition of British India into PakistanPakistan
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...
and the present 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...
, Ghose and his family emigrated to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He graduated from Keele University in 1959 and taught at Ealing Mead School in London.
He became a close friend of British experimental writer B. S. Johnson
B. S. Johnson
B. S. Johnson was an English experimental novelist, poet, literary critic, producer of television programmes and film-maker.-Biography:...
, with whom he collaborated on several projects, and of Anthony Smith
A. C. H. Smith
A C.H. Smith is a British novelist and playwright from Kew. He was educated at Hampton Grammar School and Cambridge , where he read Modern Languages. Since 1960 his home has been in Bristol...
. The three writers met when they served as joint editors of an annual anthology of student poets called Universities' Poetry. Ghose also met English poet Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
and his wife, the American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
, and American author Janet Burroway
Janet Burroway
Janet Gay Burroway is an American author.Burroway was born in Tucson, Arizona, and educated at the University of Arizona, Barnard College in New York, Cambridge University in England , and the Yale School of Drama...
, with whom he occasionally collaborated.
While teaching and writing in London from 1963–1969, Ghose also free-lanced as a sports journalist, reporting on cricket for The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspaper. Two collections of his poetry were published, The Loss of India (1964) and Jets From Orange (1967), along with an autobiography called Confessions of a Native-Alien (1965) and his first two novels, The Contradictions (1966) and The Murder of Aziz Khan (1969). The Contradictions explores differences between Western and Eastern attitudes and ways of life.
In 1964, Ghose married Helena de la Fontaine, an artist from Brazil (a country he later used as the setting for six of his novels). He moved from London to the United States in 1969 to teach at the University of Texas in Austin, where he has lived for 40 years.
In the 1970s, Ghose gained international repute with his trilogy The Incredible Brazilian, which American writer Thomas Berger called "a picaresque prose epic of Brazilian history." American travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux
Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work of travel writing is perhaps The Great Railway Bazaar . He has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his...
called the work "a considerable feat of imagination."
Ghose has written poetry and prose (both fiction and non-fiction). His books of poetry include The Violent West, A Memory of Asia and Selected Poems. He has written short stories, novels and five books of literary criticism.
Ghose's correspondence with Berger, spanning 40 years, is housed for research purposes at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin. The letters cover topics such as their writing projects, books they were reading and personal concerns.
Berger's dystopic 1973 novel Regiment of Women was dedicated to Ghose.
Fiction
- Statement Against Corpses (1964), short stories, with B. S. JohnsonB. S. JohnsonB. S. Johnson was an English experimental novelist, poet, literary critic, producer of television programmes and film-maker.-Biography:...
- The Contradictions (1966)
- The Murder of Aziz Khan (1967)
- The Incredible Brazilian (trilogy)
- The Native (1972), ISBN 0-333-13093-6
- The Beautiful Empire (1975), ISBN 0-333-13094-4
- A Different World (1978), ISBN 0-333-13095-2
- Crump's Terms (1975), ISBN 0-333-10744-6
- Hulme's Investigations Into the Bogart Script (1981), ISBN 0-931604-08-7
- A New History of Torments (1982), ISBN 0-09-147670-4
- Don Bueno (1983), ISBN 0-09-154230-8
- Figures of Enchantment (1986), ISBN 0-09-163640-X
- The Triple Mirror of the Self (1992), ISBN 0-7475-1096-2
- Veronica and the Góngora Passion: Stories, Fictions, Tales and One Fable (1998), ISBN 0-920661-70-X
Non-fiction
- Confessions of a Native-Alien (1965), autobiography
- Hamlet, Prufrock and Language (1978), ISBN 0-333-23997-0
- The Fiction of Reality (1983), ISBN 0-333-29093-3
- The Art of Creating Fiction (1991), ISBN 0-333-49019-3
- Shakespeare's Mortal Knowledge: A Reading of the Tragedies (1993), ISBN 0-333-57909-7
- Beckett's Company (2008), Oxford University Press for Pakistan
Poetry
- The Loss of India (1964)
- Jets from Orange (1967)
- The Violent West (1972), ISBN 0-333-13241-6
- A Memory of Asia (1984), ISBN 0-931604-18-4
- Selected Poems (1991), ISBN 0-19-577388-8
External links
- A search for self, an article about Ghose in Dawn newspaper of Pakistan.
- To The University Students Of Pakistan, text of a lecture published by Dawn in December 2008.
- Inventory of His Papers, Addition to His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
. - Observations from a correspondence From Thomas Berger's letters.
- A Conversation with Zulfikar Ghose, by Reed Way Dasenbrock and Feroza Jussawalla, an interview with the author at his Austin home in 1985.
Video
- Zulfikar Ghose - UHV/ABR Reading Series, a talk at the University of HoustonUniversity of HoustonThe University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
's Alcorn Auditorium in April 2009, hosted by the American Book ReviewAmerican Book ReviewThe American Book Review is a nonprofit, internationally distributed publication that appears six times a year. ABR specializes in reviews of frequently neglected published works of fiction, poetry, and literary and cultural criticism from small, regional, university, ethnic, avant-garde, and...
. - Society for Critical Exchange interview, at the University of Houston in May 2009.
See also
- Milan Kundera/Zulfikar Ghose Number, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Volume IX, Summer 1989