Reading with Zarina

 Hello, Sarah? This is Zarina Hashmi, the artist. 

Zarina! Of course. Hello. How are you? 

I’m sorry to hear the gallery is closing. 

Oh thank you. It...it was a big shock to all of us. 

Yes, me too...Do you have another job yet? 

No...not yet...I’m looking though...if you hear of anything. 

Well, if you have the time, I need some help with my emails. Do you think you could stop by the studio on Monday? We’ll have some tea. 

Here sit next to me. You can hold the computer. Open the first email. Can you read it out loud? 

What shall we say? Can you type while I talk? And then we’ll read it back?

Can you read our reply back to me one more time? 

Does that sound good? 

 Yes. 

Let’s send it. 

What do you mean you haven’t read Sartre? You went to Wellesley!

I majored in studio art not philosophy. 

That’s nonsense. I studied science and I read Sartre ... in French. Don’t you speak French? I made all my printmaking students read Sarte. I’ll give you a list. 

Did you see how many emails we have today?! 

I finished the first book on your list. 

Poetics of Space? 

Yes! 

And what did you think? 

I love it. I’ve never read anything like that. I kept putting it down to just stop and think. I started reading it again! As soon as I finished it!

I have so many more books for you to read. 

How can we have so many emails?! Let’s start at the latest one. Can you read it out loud? 

Oh, you've read Orhan Pamuk?

My name is Red is one of my favorite books.

I think he’s just brilliant. Have you read Snow? It’s on my shelf, take it home with you. 

She wrote back already? Do these people have nothing better to do than send emails? Well, let's read it. 

You can read Urdu can’t you?

 Yes...slowly.

Work on your Urdu. You have to read Ghalib in Urdu. 

Zarina, you know I don’t think we’ve really answered her question here.

That’s okay. I don’t like her question. 

I’m finished with this New Yorker. Do you want to take it home?

Ask them to cc you on emails from now on. 

You don’t like Salman Rushdie?!

No…. I find his writing too flowery. I like clear sentences, like Jhumpa Lahiri. 

She’s very good. 

What have you read by Salman? 

 I read Midnight’s Children. I think Satanic Verses was banned In Kuwait. 

You should read it. 

You know he’s an Aligarh boy?

Did you check your email? She sent us a draft of the interview. What a mess! We have to redo it. 

Sarah, listen to this: “Where should the birds fly after the last sky?” It’s Darwish. Isn’t that brilliant. I wish I could read it in Arabic. Who knows what we are losing in translation... 

I was looking at the emails we sent yesterday and you misspelled chine collé. We can’t make mistakes like that. 

Aren’t paperbacks the perfect size. Slip it into a pocket or a purse. Take it anywhere. 

Should we read our reply one more time? 

Can you read the dosage on these pills?

What are you reading these days? 

Another interview request? Tell him to please read my recent interviews first. I’m tired of answering the same questions. 

You don’t have to say that. 

Zarina, can you recommend some American writers?

Why do you want to read American writers?

I want to read what they read growing up here.

They should read your books. 

But all I read were British books….

Oh right. Your British education. Maybe my Urdu medium education wasn’t such a bad thing. 

We spend half our time reading about me. How boring. 

Zarina, do you think maybe we should have our tea and then read this reply again?

Why? You think I’m being rude?

 Maybe just a little harsh…

Why wouldn’t she check something like that before asking us! But okay, let’s have some tea. 

I don’t think Urdu is dying..we speak it in Pakistan. Everyone is passing it onto their children. 

But are they reading Urdu novels? Do you write letters in Urdu? Do you dream in Urdu?

This book is overdesigned. 

The list of captions is a mess. We need to go through all of them. Can you read them out loud?

Home is a Foreign Place. Portfolio of thirty-six woodcuts with Urdu text printed in black on Kozo paper mounted on Somerset white paper.

Start a new line at “mounted on”. 

Can you read the prescription for me? How much should I take?

Woodcut printed in black on Kozo paper woven with strips of Kozo paper, mounted on Arches Cover buff paper.

Capitalize “Arches”.

Let’s send a quick email. Otherwise she’ll call me and it will be an hour. 

Have you read Lihaaf? Don’t tell your mother I mentioned that. 

Portfolio of four etchings printed in indigo on Lana Gravure paper; and a line from an Urdu poem by Fiaz Ahmed Faiz printed from a metalcut on Vellum.

Zarina, Scent in the Islamic Garden is for $105. Used! 

Really?

 Yes! Should we try to find it in a library?

No, that’s okay. What’s my money for if not books? 

Louise Gluck? You are always reading white writers. Should I read her? 

Do you want me to read the reply back to you Zarina?

No, that's okay. Just send it.

Cast paper with burnt umber pigment, text printed on Nepalese handmade paper and bound with silk cord.

You read Louise Gluck?! What did you think?

Very good. I think you’d like Adrienne Rich. 

Why is my spelling better than yours? 

We have to go over the captions again.

Sarah, did you put this book back on my bookshelf?

 Yes...

It’s upside down!

Zarina, should we include the English in brackets?

No. They can Google it. 

Sarah, you have to read the art magazines and reviews and everything. Don’t let the language intimidate you. You have to know what people are saying. Take any magazine you want home with you. 

This caption is so long Zarina. Maybe we can leave out the ink?

No. It’s helpful for other artists. 

You’ll never believe this. Last night I read the papers that come with all my medicines. The circle nebulizer and new antibiotic should not be used together.

That caused the reaction?! But we gave your doctor the list of medications you take!

These doctors don’t bother reading the fine print. I could have died. Now we have to start reading the fine print of any new prescriptions. 

Yes. Of course.

Have you read Jigsaw by Sybille Bedford Zarina?

Of course. What did you think?

 I loved it but the end destroyed me. 

All good art is tinged with melancholy Sarah. 

Mixed media is lazy. 

I want to make an Ex-Libris. For my library. 

What’s an Ex-Libris?

A bookplate. Like in a library book. Pasted inside the front cover. With my name on it. 

Oh, let's do it! Do you want to make a real engraving? 

No no - let’s do it digitally. Not today though. We have to get through all these emails. 

I know I’m driving you crazy with these captions but we have to get it right. One person prints something that’s incorrect and then it is repeated a hundred times by other people. 

Have you read anything new lately?

I’m re-reading War and Peace actually. It feels new. 

You like Tolstoy?

I think I do. I was too young when I first read it, I only read the love story chapters but now I prefer the other parts. 

What’s so great about a love story? 

Do you want to hear my reply Zarina?

No, that's okay. Just send it. 

Zarina, have you read The Confederacy of Dunces? Greg’s grandmother gave it to me. 

No I haven’t. Should I read it?

I loved it. The writing is just brilliant and I haven’t laughed out loud like that while reading in a long time. 

 Comedy bores me. 

Practice your Urdu by reading Faiz. 

Have you read L’Etranger Sarah?

Yes...it made me feel crazy for weeks.

Did you read it in English or French?

English! My French isn’t as good as yours!

I’m teasing you. I just finished reading The Meursault Investigation. Here, you can take it home with you. 

Zarina, have you read The Makioka Sisters? Yukari gave it to me for my birthday. I think it’s my new favorite book. 

Of course! I just love Japanese writers and filmmakers. Have you read The Tale of Genji? Read it next. 

Liz and I made the Ex-Libris. See?

Zarina, I’m putting The Reluctant Fundamentalist back on your shelf.

Did you like it?

 It was okay. I was so depressed. When he spoke about those young boys who become fighters for their kidnappers…

Janissaries...yes...It’s harder for your generation.

I found the romance completely unnecessary.

Are you okay Zarina? You seem tired. 

I was up until 2 am reading Austerlitz, you know the book Andreas Huysen mentioned. It’s heartbreaking. 

I finished The Sheltering Sky last night. 

What did you think?

It was beautiful but...so depressing Zarina. 

I’ve never identified with a character as much as I did with Kit. 

You can borrow any book you want. 

What are you reading now? 

This piece was originally published in Scroll Projects on Paper Part 3:Language is Migrant