Renowned Pakistani novelist Bapsi Sidhwa passed away on December 25, 2024, in Houston, Texas, at 86. She was a pioneering English-language author whose most famous novel, “Ice Candy Man (1988), vividly portrays the horrors of the 1947 Partition. The book significantly shaped international perceptions of Pakistani literature and inspired a film adaptation.
Other notable works by Sidhwa include “The Crow Eaters”(1978), “The Bride” (1982), and “An American Brat” (1993). These novels offer intimate portrayals of South Asian society. Born on August 11, 1938, in Karachi, Sidhwa grew up in Lahore, which influenced much of her writing. Contracting polio at two years old shaped her resilience and worldview.
In 1991, Pakistan honored Sidhwa with the Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award. She also received the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writer’s Award in 1994 and entered the Zoroastrian Hall of Fame in 2000.
Bapsi Sidhwa’s death marks the end of an era for Pakistani literature. Her works brought South Asian stories, especially those about Partition, to a global audience.
