Michael Mohammed Ahmad is an
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
novelist, teacher and community arts worker.
Biography
Ahmad was born in Inner Sydney and attended
Punchbowl Boys High School.
In 2012, Ahmad founded
SWEATSHOP Western Sydney Literacy Movement, an arts organisation that promotes literacy in Western Sydney.
In 2014 he published his debut novel
''The Tribe'' with
Giramondo.
Ahmad has stated he was motivated to write ''The Tribe'' in order to counteract negative stereotypes about
Arab Australians
Arab Australians ( ar, عرب أستراليا) refers to Australian citizens or residents with ancestry from the Middle East and North Africa, regardless of their ethnic origins. Many are not ethnically Arab but numerous groups who include Ara ...
that flourished in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
following the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
.
In 2017 Ahmad received his
Doctorate of Creative Arts at
Western Sydney University
Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network ...
.
In 2018 he published ''
The Lebs'' with
Hachette Hachette may refer to:
* Hachette (surname)
* Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing
** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary
** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm
See also
* Hachett ...
,
which was shortlisted for the 2019
Miles Franklin Award.
Bibliography
*''
The Tribe'' (
Giramondo, 2014)
*''
The Lebs'' (
Hachette Australia, 2018)
*''After Australia'' (editor) (
Affirm Press
Affirm Press is an independent Melbourne-based book publisher.
History
In 2010, Affirm Press began publishing several books a year as a part-time operation between Martin Hughes, former editor of ''The Big Issue'', and Graeme Wise, founder of Th ...
, 2020)
*''The Other Half of You'' (Hachette Australia, 2021)
Awards
*
Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelists Award (2015) – winner
*
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, t ...
Multicultural NSW Award (2019) – winner
*
Aurealis Award for best anthology (2020) – shortlisted for ''After Australia''
*New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Multicultural NSW Award (2021) – shortlisted for ''After Australia''
*
Miles Franklin Award (2022) – shortlisted for ''The Other Half of You''
*
Queensland Literary Awards
The Queensland Literary Awards is an awards program established in 2012 by the Queensland literary community, funded by sponsors and administered by the State Library of Queensland. Like the former Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, the QLA ...
The University of Queensland Fiction Book Award (2022) – winner for ''The Other Half of You''
*
Voss Literary Prize
The Voss Literary Prize is an annual award named in honour of historian Vivian Robert de Vaux Voss (1930–1963). It is awarded to the best novel published in the previous year and is managed and judged by the Australian University Heads of Engli ...
(2022) – shortlisted for ''The Other Half of You''
References
External links
Michael Mohammed Ahmad: His new novel is likely to provoke plenty of discussion
21st-century Australian novelists
Living people
Writers from Sydney
Western Sydney University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
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