Ira Mathur is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

-born

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

multimedia freelance journalist, '' Sunday Guardian'' columnist and writer. The longest-running columnist for the ''Sunday Guardian'', she has been writing an op-ed for the paper since 1995, except for a hiatus from 2003 to 2004 when she wrote for the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

''. She has written more than eight hundred columns on politics, economics, social, health and developmental issues, locally, regionally and internationally.

Biography

Mathur is "the offspring of a Muslim mother and a Hindu army officer", was educated in India and the UK, and holds a liberal arts degree in Literature and Philosophy from

Trent University Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes.

in Canada, as well as an LLB from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and a Master's in International Journalism from City University, London. Her memoir ''Love the Dark Days'' ( Peepal Tree Press) is the winner of the 2023 OCM Bocas Prize for Non-Fiction, and shortlisted for the overall prize. It was also named as among the best biographies of 2022 by the UK Guardian. In 2021 she was longlisted for the Bath Novel Award for her unpublished novel ''Touching Dr Simone''. Mathur gained diplomas in creative writing at the University of East Anglia/Guardian with Gillian Slovo and James Scudamore and at The Faber Academy with Maggie Gee. She is currently the Trinidad Guardian’s longest-running columnist and has freelanced for the UK Guardian and the BBC. In October 2021, Mathur was appointed uncontested president of the Media Association of T&T (MATT) at its Annual General Meeting.

Awards

* 1996: Media Excellence Awards Royal Bank/ Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago - Best Commentary (Print) * 2018: Second prize winner of the Caribbean-based Small Axe Literary Competition for short fiction. * 2023: Winner of the 2023 OCM Bocas Prize for Non-Fiction.

Bibliography

* ''Touching Dr Simone'', novel (2021) * ''Love The Dark Days'', memoir (2022)

References

External links

* * Sarah Dara
"Interview with Ira Mathur"
''Renaissance One'', July 27, 2021.
"In Conversation: Ira Mathur & Monique Roffey"
'' Granta'', 14 October 2022. Alumni of King's College London Indian emigrants to Trinidad and Tobago Living people Trinidad and Tobago journalists Trinidad and Tobago television personalities Trinidad and Tobago women journalists Trinidad and Tobago women novelists Year of birth missing (living people) Trinidad and Tobago women writers Women memoirists {{Caribbean-writer-stub