Kamila Shamsie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kamila Shamsie FRSL
Shamsie at the 2016 Hay Festival
Native name	کاملہ شمسی
Born	(1973-08-13) 13 August 1973 (age 52) Karachi, Pakistan
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Pakistani British
Education	Karachi Grammar School
Alma mater	Hamilton College University of Massachusetts Amherst
Genre	Fiction
Notable works	Burnt Shadows (2009) Home Fire (2017)
Notable awards	Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction; Women's Prize for Fiction
Relatives	Muneeza Shamsie (mother) Attia Hosain (great-aunt)

Kamila Shamsie (born August 13, 1973) is a talented writer from Pakistan and Britain. She is well-known for her amazing novel, Home Fire, which came out in 2017 and won awards. Granta magazine, a famous literary publication, named her one of the 20 best young British writers. People often say she is a novelist to watch out for! Kamila Shamsie also writes for popular newspapers and magazines like The Guardian and New Statesman. She even shares her thoughts on the radio.

Early Life and Education

Kamila Shamsie grew up in a smart and well-known family in Karachi, Pakistan. Her mother, Muneeza Shamsie, is a journalist and editor. Her great-aunt, Attia Hosain, was also a writer. Kamila's grandmother, Jahanara Habibullah, wrote memoirs about her life.

Kamila went to Karachi Grammar School in Pakistan. Later, she traveled to the United States as a college exchange student. She studied creative writing at Hamilton College and then earned a special degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. There, she was inspired by a poet named Agha Shahid Ali.

Kamila Shamsie's Writing Career

Kamila Shamsie wrote her very first novel, In the City by the Sea, while she was still in college. It was published in 1998 when she was 25 years old. This book was nominated for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in the UK. In 1999, she received the Prime Minister's Award for Literature in Pakistan for her work.

Her second novel, Salt and Saffron, came out in 2000. After that, she was chosen as one of "Orange's 21 Writers of the 21st Century." Her third novel, Kartography (2002), was highly praised and also nominated for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Critics said her writing style was unique and playful. Both Kartography and her next novel, Broken Verses (2005), won the Patras Bokhari Award in Pakistan.

Award-Winning Novels

Kamila Shamsie's fifth novel, Burnt Shadows (2009), was nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction. It also won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction. Her book A God in Every Stone (2014) was nominated for the 2015 Walter Scott Prize. It was also nominated for the Baileys Women's Prize For Fiction.

Her seventh novel, Home Fire, was released in 2017. The BBC called it a "powerful story." This book was nominated for the 2017 Booker Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award. In 2018, Home Fire won the prestigious Women's Prize for Fiction.

Other Works and Activities

Kamila Shamsie has also written a non-fiction book called Offence: The Muslim Case (2009). In 2009, she wrote a short story called "The Desert Torso" for Oxfam's Ox-Tales project. This project featured stories from many different authors.

She has attended many literary events, like the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2011. There, she talked about how she writes her stories. In 2011, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. This is a special honor for writers. In 2013, she was again named one of Granta magazine's best young British writers.

Kamila Shamsie has also taken part in international events, such as the Cleveland Humanities Festival. In 2017, she became a Professor of Creative Writing at the Manchester Centre for New Writing. In 2018, she gave the Orwell Lecture at University College London. She spoke about citizenship and migration.

Personal Life

Kamila Shamsie identifies as Muslim. She moved to London in 2007. She now holds citizenship in both the UK and Pakistan.

In 2012, she joined the Authors XI cricket team. This was interesting because she had never played cricket before! She even wrote a chapter called "The Women's XI" for a book about the team's first season together.

Awards and Recognition

Kamila Shamsie has received many awards and honors for her writing.

Special 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
• 2005: Patras Bokhari Award, for Broken Verses
• 2013: Recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women.
• 2013: Named on Granta Best of Young British Novelists
• 2019: Nelly Sachs Prize, an award for her literary work. This award was later withdrawn due to her support for the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Many other writers signed a letter to support Kamila Shamsie.

Literary Awards for Her Books

Books by Kamila Shamsie

Here is a list of the books Kamila Shamsie has written:

• 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)
• Duckling: A Fairy Tale Revolution (2020)
• Best of Friends (2022)

See also

In Spanish: Kamila Shamsie para niños