Book Launch: “Stones Hold Water” by Zakia Rubab Khwaja

Harris Khalique in conversation with Zakia Rubab Khwaja on the publication of Stones Hold Water, her debut poetry collection.

In this collection of over 50 poems, Zakia R. Khwaja takes you on a journey both mythic and real, joyful and tragic. She celebrates her Indus Valley heritage even as she unflinchingly holds a candle to hostility and tragedy in the region. These are stories of legends and culture, of turmoil — political and personal, of triumphant self-discovery threaded with a love of language and literature.

About the Poet

Zakia R. Khwaja is a Pakistani-American poet whose work has appeared in Grey Sparrow Journal, the Alabama Review, the Aleph Review, Forge, Willow Springs among others. Zakia has a Masters in English from the University of Rochester and an MBA from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. She has served as a poetry instructor for Desi Writer’s Lounge, an initiative for South Asian poets writing in English. Zakia has given readings for the South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) and has been published by the Pakistan Academy of Letters. She writes a blog at www.zakiarkhwaja.com on creativity and writing.

Zakia’s poetry focuses on the rich culture of Indus Valley heritage as well as regional and global socio-political issues. When not writing, Zakia likes to run marathon challenges and has Guinness World Records for participating in the Highest Altitude Road Race and the Highest Altitude Trail Half Marathon in the World.