Urdu Academy of North America hosts writer-poetess Farhat Parveen (Continued)
Short Story Writing in Urdu Literature
Short story writing, termed as “Afsana Naveesi” in Urdu language, is a popular genre of literature in almost all the major languages of the world having their share in literature. Short story or “afsana” has become a permanent part of Urdu literature for well over 100 years by now, and has matured into a highly developed and liked genre of Urdu literature. 
The art of writing afsana has been distributed into several phases namely, romantic period, progressive writing, modernist writing and the presently prevalent phase.
Different times and generations have added different dimensions to short story discipline of Urdu language. This century of progression has exposed “afsana” with certain unique characteristics. It has developed under the influence of different phases, such as, initial romantic period, followed by progressive writing era, modernistic writing era, and the ongoing period.
Munshi Premchand set the strong foundations of Urdu short story writing around early 20th century by producing short story marvels like “Kafan”, “Poos Ki Raat”, etc. His footsteps were followed by the likes of great authors including Krishan Chandar, Ghulam Abbas, Sadat Hassan Manto, Bedi, and Ismat Chughtai, to name a few.
The next generation of Urdu short story tellers comprised of Quratulain Haider, Jogindar Paul, Ashfaq Ahmad, Mumtaz Mufti, Qudrat Ullah Shahab, etc. They inspired current generation of writers like Neelam Ahmad Bashir, Zahida Hina, and Paigham Afaqui, to name a few.
Thus, these are all the devoted souls who contributed in progression of “afsana naveesi” in particular and Urdu literature in general.
The Short Story Month
The short story is on the rise again globally and the month of MAY is being celebrated as the Short Story Month around the world. The month of April is celebrated globally as the Poetry Month.
Story A Day organization has established a website - http://shortstorymonth.com – to celebrate the short story month. The international Short Story Month is celebrated since 2013.
This leads us to the question what is a short story?
A short story is fictional work of prose that is shorter in length than a novel. American writer and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe, in his 1896 essay "The Philosophy of Composition," said that a short story should be read in one sitting, anywhere from a half hour to two hours. In contemporary fiction, a short story can range from 1,000 to 20,000 words.
Poe considered the duration of a literary work to be critically important consideration, "If any literary work is too long to be read at one sitting..." -- we lose the benefit of a single reading session -- "... for, if two sittings be required, the affairs of the world interfere, and everything like totality is at once destroyed." Poe recognized that there was something special in a single session of reading and that short stories and poems of a certain length could capitalize on that special quality.
Because of the shorter length, a short story usually focuses on one plot, one main character (with a few additional minor characters), and one central theme, whereas a novel can tackle multiple plots and themes, with a variety of prominent characters.
