Summary: Nadeem Aslam speaks to John Freeman about his novella 'Leila in the Wilderness'. The story, which opens our Pakistan issue, is one of the longest pieces in the magazine's commissioning history and a work the author has been gestating for fifteen years. It focuses on attitudes to women who give birth to baby girls in Pakistan. When asked recently by a young Pakistani man if he had children, Aslam replied that he saw his books as his children. "Oh yes," said the man. "Your successful novels will be your boys, and the novels that fail will be your daughters." Produced by Pixiu Productions
