H.M. Naqvi: Coming of Age in the Shadow of 9/11
MUMBAI, July 9, 2011 — The tragic September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks affected countless lives in myriad ways. In his his award-winning debut novel Home Boy, Karachi-based author H.M. Naqvi dramatizes the impact of 9/11 in a broader story about four Pakistani men living in New York City, and thereby manages to explore its effects on people from all walks of life.
In front of an Asia Society audience here, Naqvi described Home Boy as an "immigrant’s tale, a coming-of-age novel, and a New York story." Rather than engaging history, he sought to explore the lives of four young men, adding that he did not mean for the book to be a political one.
Naqvi also shared aspects of his process as a writer, such as the fact that he set every chapter in Home Boy to a different song.
Times of India journalist Namita Devidayal, author of the successful memoir The Music Room as well as a novel, joined Naqvi in conversation.
The programme was co-presented by Bungalow 8 and DSC.