Women's Health Women

Bapsi Sidhwa Wikipedia

Bapsi Sidhwa (1938 - ) is an important author of Pakistani origin who writes in English. She is of Parsi Zoroastrian background, and has depicted Parsi life, customs, and the Zoroastrian religion in great detail in most of her works.
She is also the recipient of many awards, including the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest honor.

Sidhwa was born in Karachi, Pakistan, but her family moved shortly thereafter to Lahore. She currently resides in Houston, Texas (where she has lived for the past several decades) and maintains a rigorous schedule of conference speaking. She has previously taught at the University of Houston, Rice University, Columbia University, Mount Holyoke College, and Brandeis University.

A vocal proponent of women's rights in South Asia, she has also infused her works with strong female characters. Her best known work is Ice-Candy-Man (1988; later published as Cracking India, 1991). This novel depicts 1947, the year that India and Pakistan became two separate nations, and its bloody Partition, as seen through the eyes of a young Parsi Zoroastrian girl. The book was later adapted as the 1998 film Earth (1998 film)|Earth by director Deepa Mehta.

Sidhwa is currently editing an anthology of stories about Lahore and is writing the book version of Deepa Mehta's film, "Water," the third part of her trilogy (which also includes, "Fire," and "Earth").

Last Modified:   2005-12-19