Tahmima Anam facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tahmima Anam
Anam in 2023
Native name	তাহমিমা আনাম
Born	(1975-10-08) 8 October 1975 (age 49) Dhaka, Bangladesh
Occupation	Writer, novelist, columnist
Language	English
Citizenship	British
Alma mater	Mount Holyoke College (BA) Harvard University (PhD) Royal Holloway, University of London (MA)
Years active	2007–present
Notable works	A Golden Age The Good Muslim The Bones of Grace
Spouse	Roland O. Lamb ​ (m. 2010)​
Relatives	Mahfuz Anam (father) Abul Mansur Ahmed (paternal grandfather)

Tahmima Anam (Bengali: তাহমিমা আনাম) was born on October 8, 1975. She is a writer, novelist, and columnist from Bangladesh who also has British citizenship. Her first novel, A Golden Age (published in 2007), won the Best First Book award at the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prizes. Her next novel, The Good Muslim, was nominated for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize. Tahmima Anam is the granddaughter of Abul Mansur Ahmed and the daughter of Mahfuz Anam.

Growing Up

Tahmima Anam was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 1975. When she was two years old, her parents started working for UNESCO. This meant her family moved to Paris. She spent her childhood living in different cities like Paris, New York, and Bangkok. During this time, her parents taught her about the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Her Education

When Tahmima was 17, she received a scholarship to attend Mount Holyoke College. She graduated from there in 1997. Later, she earned a PhD in anthropology from Harvard University in 2005. Her research focused on how people remembered the war in Bangladesh. She also completed a Master of Arts degree in creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Her Writing Career

First Novels and Research

In March 2007, Tahmima Anam's first novel, A Golden Age, was published. Her parents' experiences during the Bangladesh Liberation War inspired this book. The novel was a finalist for the Costa First Novel Award. It tells the story of a woman named Rehana Haque during the 1971 war.

To write the book, Tahmima spent two years in Bangladesh. She interviewed many people who fought in the war. She also worked on the set of a famous film called Matir Moina (The Clay Bird). This film also showed events from the war.

Her second novel, The Good Muslim, came out in 2011. It is a follow-up to A Golden Age. This book explores what happened after the war. It was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize.

Awards and Other Works

In 2013, Tahmima Anam was recognized as one of Granta's "Best of Young British Novelists." This is a special list of talented young writers.

In 2015, her short story "Garments" was published. This story was inspired by the Rana Plaza building collapse. It won the O. Henry Award and was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. In the same year, she became a judge for the Man Booker International Prize.

Her novel The Bones of Grace was published in 2016. The next year, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. This is an honor for writers. Tahmima Anam has also written articles for newspapers like The New York Times and The Guardian. In these articles, she often writes about Bangladesh and its challenges.

In 2021, her novel The Startup Wife was released. Many magazines and newspapers chose it as one of the best books of 2021. It was also nominated for the Comedy Women in Print Prize in 2022.

In 2022, Tahmima Anam gave a TEDx talk. She spoke about "The Power of Holding Silence: Making the Workplace Work for Women." Also in 2022, her first novel, A Golden Age, was chosen for the Queen’s jubilee book list. This list featured 70 books from across the Commonwealth.

Her Family Life

In 2010, Tahmima Anam married Roland O. Lamb. He is an American inventor whom she met at Harvard University. They have a son named Rumi. Rumi was born early and had difficulty eating for five years. Tahmima has written about this experience. As of 2011, she lives in London.

See also

• British Bangladeshi
• List of British Bangladeshis
• List of Muslim writers and poets