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Kamila Shamsie
FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...
(born 13 August 1973) is a Pakistani and British writer and novelist who is best known for her award-winning novel '' Home Fire'' (2017). Named on ''Granta'' magazine's list of 20 best young British writers, Shamsie has been described by ''
The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...
'' as "a novelist to reckon with and to look forward to." She also writes for publications including ''
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 ...
'', ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', ''
Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...
'' and '' Prospect'', and broadcasts on radio.


Early life and education

Shamsie was born into a well-to-do family of intellectuals 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 cap ...
, Pakistan. Her mother is journalist and editor
Muneeza Shamsie Muneeza Shamsie (born 1944) is a Pakistani writer, critic, literary journalist, bibliographer and editor. She is the author of a literary history ''Hybrid Tapestries: The Development of Pakistani English Literature'' (Oxford University Press) ...
, her great-aunt was writer
Attia Hosain Attia Hosain (20 October 1913 – 25 January 1998) was a British-Indian novelist, author, writer, broadcaster, journalist and actor.''Distant Traveller'', new and selected fiction: edited by Aamer Hossein with Shama Habibullah, with forewo ...
and she is the granddaughter of memoirist Jahanara Habibullah. Shamsie was brought up in Karachi, where she attended
Karachi Grammar School Karachi Grammar School ( ur, ) is an independent, English-medium school located in 3 different campuses across Karachi. The main and oldest campus is located in Saddar, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It is a highly selective, coeducational day school ...
. She went to the US as a college exchange student, and earned a BA in creative writing from
Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...
, and an MFA from the
MFA Program for Poets & Writers MFA may refer to: Organizations * Marine and Fisheries Agency, a former UK government executive agency * Ministry of Foreign Affairs (including a list of ministries with the name) * Movement of the Forces of the Future (french: Mouvement des Forc ...
at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
, where she was influenced by the
Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...
poet
Agha Shahid Ali Agha Shahid Ali (4 February 1949 – 8 December 2001) was an Indian-born poet who immigrated to the United States, and became affiliated with the literary movement known as New Formalism in American poetry. His collections include ''A Walk ...
.


Career

Shamsie wrote her first novel, ''In The City by the Sea'', while still in college, and it was published in 1998 when she was 25. It was shortlisted for the
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and publis ...
in the UK, and Shamsie received the Prime Minister's Award for Literature in Pakistan in 1999. Her second novel, ''Salt and Saffron'', followed in 2000, after which she was selected as one of Orange's 21 Writers of the 21st century. Her third novel, ''Kartography'' (2002), received widespread critical acclaim and was also shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in the UK. According to the review in ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
'': "Shamsie's cerebral, playful style sets her apart from most of her fellow subcontinental writers. Something of a cross between
Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. S ...
and
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...
, she deserves a larger readership in the U.S." Both ''Kartography'' and Shamsie's next novel, ''Broken Verses'' (2005), have won the Patras Bokhari Award from the Academy of Letters in Pakistan. Shamsie's fifth novel, '' Burnt Shadows'' (2009), was shortlisted for the
Orange Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...
and won an
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture. Established in 1935 by Clev ...
for fiction."Kamila Shamsie , Burnt Shadows"
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. ''A God in Every Stone'' (2014) was shortlisted for the 2015
Walter Scott Prize The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction is a British literary award founded in 2010.Walter Sc ...
and for the Baileys Women's Prize For Fiction. According to
Maya Jaggi Maya Jaggi is a British writer, literary critic , editor and cultural journalist.Maya Jaggi profi ...
's review in ''The Guardian'': "Through its succession of seemingly disparate, acutely observed worlds, Burnt Shadows reveals the impact of shared histories, hinting at larger tragedies through individual loss." Shamsie's seventh novel, '' Home Fire'', described by 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. ...
...
as a "powerful story of the complexities of love, family and state in wartime", was longlisted for the 2017
Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...
, shortlisted for the
International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...
, and in 2018 won the
Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...
. She is also the author of the non-fiction work ''Offence: The Muslim Case'' (
Seagull Books Seagull Books is a publishing venture begun in Kolkata in 1982 by Naveen Kishore, a theater practitioner. It began primarily as a response to the growing need for an Indian publishing house for theater and the other arts and since then it has ...
, 2009). In 2009, Shamsie donated the short story "The Desert Torso" to
Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...
's
Ox-Tales Ox-Tales refers to four anthologies of short stories written by 38 of the UK's best-known authors. All donated their stories to Oxfam. The books and stories are loosely based on the four elements: Earth, Fire, Air and Water. The Ox-Tales books we ...
project – four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the ''Air'' collection. She attended the 2011
Jaipur Literature Festival The Jaipur Literature Festival, or JLF, is an annual literary festival which takes place in the Indian city of Jaipur each year in the month of January. It was founded in 2006. It is the world's largest free literary festival. The Diggi Palace ...
, where she spoke about her style of writing. She participated in the
Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...
's 2011 project '' Sixty-Six Books'', with a piece based on a book of the ''
King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
''. Shamsie was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...
in 2011. In 2013, she was included in the ''Granta'' list of 20 best young British writers. She has contributed to such international events as the Cleveland Humanities Festival and the
NGC Bocas Lit Fest The NGC Bocas Lit Fest is the Trinidad and Tobago literary festival that takes place annually during the last weekend of April in Port of Spain. Inaugurated in 2011, it is the first major literary festival in the southern Caribbean and largest lit ...
in
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
, in 2016, and she is a patron of the Manchester Literature Festival. In 2017, she joined the
Manchester Centre for New Writing The University of Manchester's Centre for New Writing runs taught MA courses and PhD research programmes in creative and critical writing. According to its website, it was "formed to develop and refine postgraduate and undergraduate students' writi ...
, where she is Professor of Creative Writing. She delivered the 2018 Orwell Lecture at
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
, with the title "Unbecoming British: citizenship, migration and the transformation of rights into privileges". In 2021, Shamsie was a judge for the
Goldsmiths Prize The Goldsmiths Prize is a British literary award, founded in 2013 by Goldsmiths, University of London, in association with the ''New Statesman.'' It is awarded annually to a piece of fiction that "breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of ...
, alongside
Nell Stevens Nell Stevens (born 1985) is a British writer of memoirs and fiction. She is an assistant professor in the University of Warwick School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Cultures, where she teaches on the Warwick Writing Programme and list ...
,
Fred D'Aguiar Fred D'Aguiar (born 2 February 1960) is a British-Guyanese poet, novelist, and playwright. He is currently Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Life Fred D'Aguiar was born in London, England, in 1960 t ...
and Johanna Thomas-Corr.


Personal life

Shamsie states that she considers herself
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
. She moved to London in 2007 and is now a dual national of the UK and Pakistan. In 2012, she joined the latest incarnation of the Authors XI
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
team, despite never having played the game before. She contributed a chapter, "The Women's XI", to the book ''The Authors XI: A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon'' (2013), collectively written by members of the team to chronicle their first season together.


Awards and recognition

* 1999: Prime Minister's Award for Literature in Pakistan, for ''In the City by the Sea'' * 2002: Patras Bokhari Award from the Academy of Letters in Pakistan, for Patras Bokhari Award from the Academy of Letters in Pakistan * 2005: Patras Bokhari Award, for ''Broken Verses'' * 2010: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction, for ''Burnt Shadows'' * 2013: Recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women. * 2013: Named on ''Granta''s list of 20 best young British writers * 2018:
Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...
, for ''Home Fire'' * 2019:
Nelly Sachs Prize The Nelly Sachs Prize (German: ''Nelly Sachs Preis'') is a literary prize given every two years by the German city of Dortmund. Named after the Jewish poet and Nobel laureate Nelly Sachs, the prize includes a cash award of €15,000. It honours ...

rescinded
no new winner nominated), in honour of her literary work; however, the jury withdrew its decision to award the writer citing her support for the pro-
Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. A letter protesting the move was signed by hundreds of fellow writers in support of Shamsie.


Books

* ''In the City by the Sea'' (1998), * ''Salt and Saffron'' (2000), , * ''Kartography'' (2002), * ''Broken Verses'' (2005), * ''Offence: The Muslim Case'' (2009), , * '' Burnt Shadows'' (2009), * ''A God in Every Stone'' (2014), , * '' Home Fire'' (2017), * '' Best of Friends'' (2022),


See also

* List of people who support the BDS movement


References


Further reading

*


External links


Kamila Shamsie talks about ''Burnt Shadows''
on the BBC's ''
World Book Club ''World Book Club'' is a radio programme on the BBC World Service. Each edition of the programme, which is broadcast on the first Saturday of the month with repeats into the following Monday, features a famous author discussing one of his or her ...
''
Kamila Shamsie at Bloomsbury Publishing

Article in ''The Guardian'' on Kamila Shamsie

"The Storytellers of Empire"
in ''
Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...
'', 1 February 2012
Article on the London of Kamila Shamsie's ''Home Fire''
on the London Fictions website
"Kamila Shamsie: Home Fire"
Shamsien conversation with Sonia Nair at the
Wheeler Centre The Wheeler Centre, originally Centre of Books, Writing and Ideas, is a literary and publishing centre founded as part of Melbourne's bid to be a Unesco Creative City of Literature, which designation it earned in 2008. It is named after its pat ...
.
"Books by Kamila Shamsie and Complete Book Reviews"
''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
''. * Alison Flood
"Hundreds of authors protest after Kamila Shamsie's book award is revoked"
''The Guardian'', 23 September 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shamsie, Kamila 1973 births 21st-century British women writers BBC 100 Women British Muslims British women novelists British writers of Pakistani descent English-language writers from Pakistan Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Hamilton College (New York) alumni Karachi Grammar School alumni Living people Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom Pakistani novelists Pakistani women novelists University of Massachusetts Amherst MFA Program for Poets & Writers alumni Writers from Karachi 20th-century Pakistani women writers 21st-century British novelists