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Bina Shah (born in 1972) is a Pakistani writer, columnist and blogger living in
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
.
Education
The eldest of three children, Shah was born in Karachi to a
Sindhi family. She obtained a B.A. in Psychology from
Wellesley College and a MEd in Educational Technology from the
Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA.
Shah is a fellow of the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
, as an alum of the International Writing Program (2011). She is also a Fellow of the
Hong Kong Baptist University
Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is a publicly funded tertiary liberal arts institution with a Christian education heritage. It was established as Hong Kong Baptist College with the support of American Baptists, who provided both operatin ...
as an alum of it
International Writers Workshop
Media
Shah is the author of four novels and two collections of short stories. She has been published in English, Italian, French, Spanish, Danish, Chinese, German, Turkish and Vietnamese. Her novel Slum Child was published in 2008, while a historical fiction novel about Sindh, ''A Season For Martyrs'' was published in 2014 by Delphinium Books. Her fiction and non-fiction has appeared in ''
Granta
''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...
'',
Granta--> ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', ''
Wasafiri
''Wasafiri'' is a quarterly British literary magazine covering international contemporary writing. Founded in 1984, the magazine derives its name from a Swahili word meaning "travellers" that is etymologically linked with the Arabic word " safa ...
'', ''Critical Muslim'', ''InterlitQ'', the ''Istanbul Review'', ''Asian Cha'', and the collection And the World Changed.
Shah was a contributing opinion writer from 2013-2015 for the ''
International New York Times
''The New York Times International Edition'' is an English-language daily newspaper distributed internationally by the New York Times Company. It has been published in two separate periods, one from 1943 to 1967 and one from 2013 to the prese ...
'' and an op-ed columnist for ''Dawn'', a newspaper in Pakistan published in Karachi. Currently she also writes a column for the Books and Authors section of the Dawn. She has written for
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
, ''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'', ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', and ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
''.
Shah writes extensively about Pakistani culture and society, women's rights, girls' education, and issues pertaining to technology, education, and freedom of expression. Her columns and her blo
The Feministanihas established Shah as one of Pakistan's foremost feminists and cultural commentators. She has been a frequent guest on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
,
PRI's ''
The World
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
'' and
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
.
Shah is a two-time winner of Pakistan'
Agahi Awardsfor excellence in journalism. Her short story "The Living Museum", won the Dr. Neila C. Sesachari prize from Weber University's literary journal, ''Weber - The Contemporary West''. Shah donated the award money to the
Karam Foundation
The Karam Foundation is an aid organization which started in 2007 and focuses on helping those affected by the Syrian Civil War.
History
The Karam Foundation began as a food drive in the south side of Chicago, but after the Syrian Civil War st ...
in aid of Syrian refugees.
Shah was chosen by ''
OK!'' Pakistan as Best Writer of 2014. In 2017 she was selected as a Ponds Miracle Woman.
In 2022, Shah was presented by the Ambassador of France to Pakistan, Nicolas Galey, with the insignia of a Chevalier of the
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an honorary award given by the French government.
Books
Shah's first book, a volume of short stories called ''Animal Medicine'', was published in 2000. Her first novel, ''Where They Dream in Blue'', was published by Alhamra in 2001. A second novel, ''The 786 Cybercafé'', was published by Alhamra in 2004. In 2005, her short story "The Optimist" was published in the anthology ''And the World Changed'' (Women Unlimited/OUP); an essay called "A Love Affair with Lahore" was published in an anthology edited by
Bapsi Sidhwa
Bapsi Sidhwa ( ur, بیپسی سدھوا; born 11 August 1938) is a Pakistani novelist of Gujarati Parsi Zoroastrian descent who writes in English and is a resident in the United States.
She is best known for her collaborative work with Ind ...
called ''City of Sin and Splendour - Writings on Lahore'' (Penguin India - Pakistani title ''Beloved City'' -— OUP). In 2007 Alhamra published her second collection of short stories, ''Blessings''.
Shah's third novel ''Slum Child'' was published in India by Tranquebar, an imprint of Westland-Tata, in 2010. An Italian-language version was published in 2009 under the title ''La Bambina Che Non Poteva Sognare'' by
Newton Compton Editori
Newton Compton Editori, sometimes spelled Newton & Compton, is an Italian publisher.
The publisher was founded in Rome by Vittorio Avanzini in 1969. The house has published mostly paperbacks and low cost editions, including literature classics, es ...
in Italy, where it reached number 3 on the paperback bestseller list, and sold more than 20,000 copies. It was published in Spanish by Grijalbo, an imprint of Random House
Mondadori
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy.
History
The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...
, in June 2011.
Shah's fourth novel
''A Season For Martyrs'' was published by Delphinium Books (November 2014) to critical acclaim. It was also published in Italy by Newton Compton as ''Il Bambino Che Credeva Nella Liberta'' in 2010. For this novel, Shah was awarded the Premio Internazionale in the Un Mondi di Bambini category of the Almalfi Coast Literary Festival in 2010 for translated fiction.
Shah's fifth novel ''Before She Sleeps'', a feminist dystopian novel, was published by Delphinium Books in 2018. An extract from the novel was featured in the Dawn's special 70th anniversary Pakistan edition "Seventy+Seventy". The novel was praised by
Margaret Atwood on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
as "a fascinating new angle on 'emotional work'." American newspaper ''Los Angeles Times'' it "charged and thrilling." Before She Sleeps was recognized as part of a new canon of feminist dystopia pioneered by Booker Prize winning author Atwood and relevant to the global fight for women's rights and empowerment worldwide, as well as an important part of the #MeToo movement. Shah's novel was also considered noteworthy because it stood out from most Western-centric feminist dystopias, describing a futuristic society in the Middle East where women are forced into polygamous marriages by an authoritarian government in a society ravaged by war and disease.
In 2019 Shah contributed an essay, "The Life and Death of Pakistan's Sabeen Mahmud", about the assassination of Pakistan's beloved human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud, to the antholog
Brave New Words: The Power of Writing Nowpublished by Myriad and edited by Susheila Nasta. The anthology of fifteen specially commissioned essays examining the value of critical thinking and the power of the written word was published to commemorate 35 years of Wasafiri, a UK magazine of international literature. Other contributors to the anthology included Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo, Githa Hariharan, Eva Hoffman, Romesh Gunesekera, James Kelman, Tabish Khair, Kei Miller, Blake Morrison, Mukoma wa Ngugi, Hsiao-Hung Pai, and Marina Warner.
Awards and Honors
Shah has been the recipient of several awards and honors.
*
Agahi Award
The Agahi Awards are an annual series of awards for journalism in Pakistan. They were inaugurated in 2012 and are Pakistan's first ever Journalism Awards. These awards are organized by Mishal Pakistan, which is a media consultancy firm, in collab ...
for excellence in journalism, 2013, 2014/15.
* Dr. Neila C. Sesachari prize from Weber University's literary journal, ''Weber - The Contemporary West'' for her short story "The Living Museum"
* ''
OK!'' Pakistan, Best Writer of 2014.
* Ponds Miracle Woman, 2017.
* Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction, 2022, Finalist.
* Premio Internazionale, Un Mondi di Bambini category, Almalfi Coast Literary Festival, 2010 for the Italian translation ''Il Bambino Che Credeva Nella Liberta'' of her novel, ''A Season For Martyrs''.
* Chevalier of the
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 2022.
See also
*
List of Pakistani writers
References
External links
Official websitePage of ''Before She Sleeps''at Harper Collins website
"How I Came To Write A Dystopian Novel about Life for Women in South Asia"from the Delphinium Books blog
Interview with Bina Shah for Asian Threads RHK Radio
"Bina Shah: On Bland Food, Binders, and Being Outspoken"from Ed., the HGSE alumnae magazine
* Bina Shah
"Pakistan and the Literary Boys' Club" from ''The Guardian'', 15 October 2010.
Bina Shah's Amazon Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Bina
1972 births
English-language writers from Pakistan
Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni
International Writing Program alumni
Living people
Pakistani women writers
Pakistani writers
Sindhi female writers
Sindhi people
Wellesley College alumni
Writers from Karachi