About Book

About Book: Stay With Me was written in 2000 and first published in 2004 by SAMA. This novel is historical fiction set in the vast historical and political landscape which resembles current day Pakistan, Central Asia and New York. The story is set as an interrogation, a loss of identity, a missing person, a story of multiple ages, and memory, of love, loss and pain and history experienced and received. The title is inspired by Faiz Ahmed Faiz's ghazal: tum mire paas raho mire qātil, mire dildār mire paas raho jis ghaḌī raat chale, āsmānoñ kā lahū pī ke siyah raat chale marham-e-mushk liye, nashtar-e-almās liye bain kartī huī hañstī huī gaatī nikle dard ke kāsnī pāzeb bajātī nikle jis ghaḌī sīnoñ meñ Duube hue dil āstīnoñ meñ nihāñ hāthoñ kī rah takne lage aas liye aur bachchoñ ke bilakne kī tarah qulqul-e-mai bahr-e-nā-sūdgī machle to manā.e na mane jab koī baat banā.e na bane jab na koī baat chale jis ghaḌī raat chale jis ghaḌī mātamī sunsān siyah raat chale paas raho mire qātil, mire dildār mire paas raho

About Author

Maniza Naqvi is a novelist and short story writer. She has written four novels: Mass Transit, On Air, Stay with Me, and A Matter of Detail. Sarajevo Saturdays is a collection of her short stories and poems. Her short story ‘An Impossible Shade of Home Brew’ is included in the anthology And Then the World Changed. Her short story 'A Brief Acquaintance' is included in the anthology 'Neither Night nor Day'; Her short story 'Muse' is included in the anthology "Shaping the World. Her play 'That Sara Aziz' is included in the anthology Shattering Stereotypes and was produced at the Minneopolis Fringe Festival. Her book A Guest in the House is a memoir also translated in Urdu chronicle's her time at the Pioneer Book House, Karachi and provides a lens into the history of the city. She is a Monday columnist for 3Quarksdaily.com and has contributed essays for the monthly magazine Herald, including an essay on Pakistan’s English fiction. Her new novel completed in 2008, The Inn, will be published in 2021 by Maktaba e Danyal. She has 30 years of Social Protection and Social Development experience managing the preparation and implementation of Social Safety Nets, Community Development and Job Creation programs. Maniza is the Founder and CEO of The Little Book Company.