Uzma Aslam Khan was born in Lahore, Pakistan in 1969, and spent her childhood in Manila, Tokyo and London. When she was ten years old, her family decided to settle down in Karachi. After completing her studies in Karachi, Khan received scholarships to study in the United States, first in
Tariq Ali was born in Indian Lahore in 1943, a city which was still under British colonial rule before becoming part of Pakistan in 1947. Threatened with years of imprisonment after having organised public demonstrations as part of a student organisation against the military dictatorship, he saw himself forced to
is a Pakistani writer and expert on Pakistani politics and development. He has worked for national and international organizations such as the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank. As a journalist, he writes for international newspapers such as »The Friday Times« and blogs on »Jahane Rumi«. He survived an
Nadeem Aslam was born in the Pakistani metropolis of Gujranwala in 1966. During the regime of General Zia-ul-Haq, when Aslam was 14 years old he and his family were forced to leave Pakistan owing to the political convictions of his father, a writer and film-maker. They moved to England, settling
Mohammed Hanif was born in Okara, Pakistan, in 1965. He graduated from the Pakistan Air Force Academy and then worked as a pilot for the Air Force. After a few years in the military, he decided to change professions and embarked on a career as a journalist and writer. Hanif
Mohsin Hamid was born in Lahore in 1971. He spent part of his childhood in the USA, where his father worked at Stanford University. After the family returned to Pakistan, he attended Lahore American School, afterwards studying at Princeton University, where Joyce Carol Oates and Toni Morrison, among others, were
Kamila Shamsie was born in Karatchi, Pakistan in 1973. Her literary ambitions were supported from an early age by her mother, author and journalist Muneeza Shamsie, and other family members. She went to university in the USA; she completed her bachelor’s degree in creative writing at Hamilton College in Clinton,
Imtiaz Dharker was born in 1954 in Lahore, Pakistan, and was less than a year old when her family emigrated to Glasgow, Scotland. Her hybrid identity – she describes herself as a »Scottish Muslim Calvinist« – connected to her itinerant life spent between Mumbai, London and Wales also informs her
Hassaan Bin Shaheen studied law at the University of London. He has given courses to promote the culture of debating among young people. He has been in charge of various research projects dealing with political issues and advises companies and organisations in legal and political matters in his home country
H. M. Naqvi was born in 1974 and spent his childhood in Islamabad, Pakistan and Algiers, Algeria. He won a scholarship to study at Georgetown University and then completed a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Boston University. Naqvi has worked as a banker, run the poetry slam
Alixandra Fazzina, born in Great Britain in 1974, began her career as a photo journalist embedded with the British army in Bosnia in 2005. She has since focussed on chronicling the human suffering caused by war. Over the past ten years Fazzina has travelled to Africa, the Middle East, Asia
born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 1948, has been working in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia. He writes for »Financial Times«, »New York Review of Books«, and others, and published »Taliban« (2000), among others. He works as a consultant to the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch, has founded the first
