Is talent enough to write lasting stories or poems? How important is it for creative writers to read quality literature from across the globe? How much did Manto owe to the French and Russian writers that he had read and translated? And then there were giants like Shakespeare, Dante, Cervantes and our own Shah Hussain and Bulleh Shah who have continued to influence readers over centuries. Were they too, in their time, conversant with world literature?

Is it possible to produce world class literature by being aware of one’s own literary tradition only and without having read world literature? Most fictions writers, critics and even poets swear by extensive reading.

Noted fiction writer Mirza Athar Baig is the view that without reading world literature, a fiction writer or poet can’t produce anything worthwhile.

"The lack of interest in modern literature is one of the main reasons for the irrelevance of most Pakistani literature at the global level," says fiction writer, critic and editor Asif Farrukhi.

"It is very important to read for a writer and there can’t be two views in this regard. Shakespeare, too, was a well-read man of his times as he was aware of what his predecessors wrote in the realm of drama. It was said that he had read Plutarch’s famous book on history also. Ghalib would not have been Ghalib had he not fully read Bedil, Urfi, Nazeeri," says Farrukhi.

Critic Dr Nasir Abbas Nayyar believes that in art and fiction one needs 99 per cent perspiration and 1 per cent inspiration to succeed. "As far as the people of classical ages were concerned, he points out that they used to travel to various lands and this gave them first-hand knowledge of people and places. People like Ghalib, Mirza Abdul Qadir Bedil, etc. were learned men of their times."

"Bedil knew Sanskrit and there are many other instances of his deep study. Ghalib would not have attained the status if he hadn’t been a voracious reader. He would merely have become a poet like Dagh Dehlavi. One must have knowledge of literary tradition so that one may write deep rooted fiction or poetry," says Nayyar.

Nayyar mentions Intizar Husain who according to him read old classic Jataka tales etc. and that is the reason he attained his current position, literally a cult status, in Urdu literature.

Fiction writer and poet Ali Akbar Natiq, who took the literary world by storm, thinks that reading helps but one must also learn to read the society in which a writer opens his eyes. "People like Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussain read their societies and minutely scrutinised their social milieu." He does lay importance on talent and says, "Reading helps but not if the writer doesn’t have an inborn ability [to write]."

Idris Babur, a well-read young poet and editor of Urdu, also favours avid reading. He believes that reading expands our existence and just like other life experiences, it is vital to writing process. Every new writer must have knowledge of tradition, history, culture, and energy to rebel. "One has to lick the dust and defy the heavens to describe the collateral chaos that the reality is. Vast study of international literature helps achieve this," he says.

If that’s was how a well-read poet thinks, quite an uncommon phenomena in the realm of Urdu poetry, an equally well-read short story writer Irfan Javed also rues the fact that Urdu writers are lagging far behind as far as getting to know the world literature is concerned.

Javed believes that reading is a primary driving force to inspire and activate writing potential in aspiring writers as it broadens mental horizon as well as educates and enlightens the inquiring mind. "Unfortunately, the existing lot of Urdu writers are not well conversant with modern literary trends and writings. It is due to the non-availability of fine Urdu translations of current international literature. We have either stagnated at the likes of Borges and Garcia Marquez or have tilted our sensibilities to the popular literature of the likes of Paulo Coelho."

Irfan Ahmad Urfi, a versatile short story writer, says there should be an aptitude which then gets nourished by a certain atmosphere. "Like a seed needs water and air to grow, so does inborn talent need a thorough study of books as well as people for sustained growth. So, a god-gifted talent can’t survive long enough if not aided by reading books."