"A Woman" were published in Kabul in 2006. The booklet titled "A Woman" also offers the English translation of these short stories.[17] Included in Pazhwak's body of fiction writing are some dramas but most of the texts belong to the genre of storytelling including short stories and novelettes. The drams, short stories (dastan-i kuta) and novelettes (nawil) stem from Western literature but are nowadays an established part of modern Afghan prose writing (nasr-i adabi). The beginnings of this genre of literature in can be traced back to the early twentieth century when important literary impulses came from the journalistic and literary efforts of Mahmud Tarzi (1865–1933). Tarzi's regular elaborations in his influential newspaper Seraj al-Akhbar on Western literature and its various genres and movements were not only noticed by Afghan literati but also greatly influenced their work. In this manner, the new forms of prose writing gradually entered the literature of . Pazhwak's turning away from traditional style of prose writing, for example, his limited use of the picturesque metaphorical prose of the East and his turning to increasingly more realistic style of writing are in tune with what Tarzi defined as the important criteria for modern prose writing. In some of the stories, Pazhwak attends to the protagonist's deep thoughts, placing the human being and his inner life at the center of the narrative. Pazhwak was one of the first Afghan literati to write drama, short stories and novelettes. In recognition of his standing and contribution, Sayed Haschmatullah Hossaini described Pazhwak as a "pioneer of Afghan short story writing," in his research on modern Dari literature in Afghanistan.[18] Many of Pazhwak's prose writings drew on the rich repertoire of Afghan folklore, revealing Pazhwak's preference for this genre. The austere landscape of often serves as the main backdrop in Pazhwak's stories while Iranian and Indian regions also occasionally appear as secondary backdrops. This latter aspect makes sense given that historically the borders between these countries have been shifting and fluid. Pazhwak's prose writing is almost entirely made up of short pieces in which the plot, often triggered by an unusual incident, follows an increasingly steep line of development. It is typical of the stories that romantic features are quite often added to them. The stories’ repertoire of themes includes historical, folkloric, socially-critical and sometimes psychological and philosophical matters. A series of motifs, for example the bravery of Afghans, love for