Book Launch: “Derrida Haraamdaa” by Julien Columeau

Julien Columeau started writing in Urdu in 2006, while he was working in Pakistan for a Humanitarian organization. His first novels were ‘Zalzala’ (2007) inspired by the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, and Saaghar (2009) a fictional account of the life of subaltern poet Saaghar Siddiqui. He has so far published 5 collections of novellas/short stories in Urdu : ‘Saaghar’ (2009), ‘Zahid aur do kahaanyaan’ (2013), ‘Teen novelette’ (2013), ‘Chaurangi’ (2017), and ‘Derrida Haraamdaa !’ (2022), as well as an Urdu translation of ‘The eye still seeks’, Salima Hashmi’s seminal volume on Pakistani Contemporary Art (translation published under the title ‘Nazar ki umang’ in 2020). He hold an MPhil in Islamic Studies from Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris and completed a PHD in History and Civilizations at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris in 2019.

‘Derrida Haraamdaa !’ is his latest collection of short stories. It has recently been published by Maktaba-e Danyal, Karachi. The main story narrates Jacques Derrida’s visit to Lahore in 1997, on the occasion of which he delivered a lecture at FC college. This visit is, of course, entirely fictional.

The discussion with Julien Columeau was held in Urdu. It was joined by Hoori Noorani, the owner of Pakistan’s well known publishing house, Maktab-e-Danyal, which published “Derrida Haraamdaa” as well. The session was moderated by Wardah Shahzadi.