Samina Ali is an American author and activist born in India. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, '' Madras on Rainy Days'', won the Prix du Premier Roman Etranger award from France and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award in Fiction.

Career

She has served as the curator of ''Muslima: Muslim Women’s Art and Voices,'' a global, virtual exhibition for the International Museum of Women (IMOW), now part of

Global Fund for Women The Global Fund for Women is a non-profit foundation funding women's human rights initiatives. It was founded in 1987 by New Zealander Anne Firth Murray, and co-founded by Frances Kissling and Laura Lederer to fund women's initiatives around the ...

. She is the co-founder of American Muslim feminist organization ''Daughters of Hajar''. In 2017, she held a public intervention titled ''What does the Quran really say about a Muslim woman's hijab?'' at the

Tedx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

of the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

, explaining the prurient basis of the hijab and the prohibition of the wearing of a bra by Muslim women. By 2020, the video had been viewed more than 8 million times. She is a

blogger A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

for

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 ...

and

Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

Bibliography

* '' Madras on Rainy Days'',

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

, 2004,

Honors and awards

In 2004, Samina received the

Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award was an award given annually to beginning women writers. Established in 1995 by American author Rona Jaffe, the Foundation offers grants to writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The award wa ...

in fiction. One year later, ''Madras on Rainy Days'' was awarded the Prix du Premier Roman Etranger award in 2005, and was a finalist for the

PEN/Hemingway Award The PEN/Hemingway Award is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingwa ...

in fiction. In July 2004, ''Madras on Rainy Days'' was chosen as a best debut novel of the year by ''

Poets & Writers Poets & Writers, Inc. is one of the largest nonprofit literary organizations in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The organization publishes a bi-monthly magazine called ''Poets & Writers Magazine'', ...

'' magazine, and she was featured on the cover in July/August 2004 issue.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Samina Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Writers from Hyderabad, India American people of Telugu descent Indian emigrants to the United States University of Oregon alumni University of Minnesota alumni Islamic fiction writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award winners American women writers of Indian descent American women novelists American novelists of Indian descent