Omair Ahmad's Homecoming (Speaking Tiger, June 2026) follows Hassan's search for home in a changing Lucknow, guided by Ahmed Sahib and Samina.
Hassan has spent years trying to belong in Lucknow, hoping to recover something of the father he lost.
An elderly man of quiet dignity, diminished in circumstance, who offers Hassan the gift of unspoken friendship.
Ahmed Sahib leads Hassan to Samina, who is seeking a home of her own, just as Hassan has been for half a lifetime.
Nawabi architecture, Urdu poetry and tehzeeb run through the plot as much as any person does.
A syncretic culture of shared festivals, mushairas and refined manners, cultivated under the Nawabs of Awadh.
When a little monument in the old quarter is torn down, staying in Lucknow stops being simple.
Homecoming asks whether home is a place, a person, a memory, or all three, and whether any of it survives change.
From Encounters in 2007, to Jimmy the Terrorist's Crossword Award in 2010, to Homecoming in June 2026.
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