Alice Albinia (born 1976) is an English journalist and author whose first book, '' Empires of the Indus'', won several awards. Albinia was born in London and read English Literature at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and South Asian History at

SOAS SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

. In between, she worked for two years in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

as a journalist and editor. While in Delhi, she worked for the

Centre for Science and Environment Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is a not-for-profit public interest research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, India. Established in 1980, CSE works as a think tank on environment-development issues in India, poor planning, ...

, the literary journal ''Biblio'', and

Outlook Traveller Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, an e-mail and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook.com, a web mail service from Microsoft * Outlook on the web, a suite of web applications ...

. Since 2012, she has taught writing at secondary schools with the support of the nonprofit

First Story First Story is an English non-profit organisation that encourages young people to write creatively, outside the curriculum, for self-expression, pleasure and agency. Its stated mission is to empower young people from low-income communities to find ...

. She was one of the three judges for the 2008 Jerwood Awards. Her debut novel, ''Leela's Book'', is a modern story inspired by the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

Bibliography

*'' Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River''. John Murray, 2008. *''Leela's Book''. Harvill Secker, 2011. *''Cwen''. Serpent's Tail, 2021. *''The Britannias''. Pending from Allen Lane, 2022.

Awards

*2005 Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Awards for Non-Fiction for ''Empires of the Indus''. *2009 Dolman Travel Prize *2009

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...

. *K Blundell Turst award for ''The Britannias''

References

1976 births Living people Writers from London English women writers British orientalists Women orientalists {{UK-journalist-stub