Mohammed Hanif

Mohammed Hanif
Hanif Mohammed Koeln
BornNovember 1964 (age 61)
Okara, Punjab, Pakistan
EducationUniversity of East Anglia, Pakistan Air Force Academy
OccupationsWriter, journalist
SpouseNimra Bucha[1]
Writing career
Period2008–present
Notable workA Case of Exploding Mangoes
Notable awardsWellcome Book Prize, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Commonwealth Prize for Best Book

Mohammed Hanif (born November 1964) is a British-Pakistani writer and journalist.[2] His work has been published by The New York Times,[3][4] The Daily Telegraph,[5] The New Yorker[6] and The Washington Post. Hanif worked as a correspondent for the BBC News based in Karachi and was the writer of a feature film about the city, The Long Night.[7][8][9] Hanif has written four novels,[10] A Case of Exploding Mangoes.[11],Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, Red Birds,[12] and Rebel English Academy[13] as well as a play, The Dictator's Wife, which was staged at the Hampstead Theatre.[14]

Life

He was born in Okara, Punjab. He graduated from Pakistan Air Force Academy as a pilot officer, but subsequently left to pursue a career in journalism.[15] He initially worked for Newsline and wrote for The Washington Post and India Today. He is a graduate of the University of East Anglia.[16] In 1996, he moved to London to work for the BBC. Later, he became the head of the BBC's Urdu service in London.[16] He moved back to Pakistan in 2008.[17]

Works

His first novel A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2008) was shortlisted for the 2008 Guardian First Book Award[18] and longlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize.[19]It won the 2009 Commonwealth Book Prize in the Best First Book category[20] and the 2008 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize.[21] It also won Corine Literature Prize in 2009.[22]

Hanif has also written for the stage and screen, including a feature film, The Long Night (2002),[9] a BBC radio play, What Now, Now That We Are Dead?, and the stage play The Dictator's Wife (2008).[23] His second novel, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, was published in 2011.[24] It was shortlisted for the Wellcome Trust Book Prize (2012),[25] and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature (2013).[26]In 2018, Hanif was honored with Sitara-e-Imtiaz.[27]

He is currently collaborating with composer Mohammed Fairouz on an opera titled Bhutto.[28]

In 2018, he wrote a novel called Red Birds.[29]

Hanif's style has often been compared with that of the author Salman Rushdie, although Hanif himself disagrees with this assessment. Once, to a question if he had grown up wanting to be a writer like Salman Rushdie, he said that while "[e]verybody of a certain age wanted to write like Rushdie and so did I", he would not want being "hunted around the world."[30]

Awards and honors

Awards for Mohammed Hanif's writing
Year Work Award Result Ref.
2008 A Case of Exploding Mangoes Guardian First Book Award Shortlist [18]
2008 Man Booker Prize Longlist [31]
2008 Shakti Bhatt Prize First Book Prize Winner [32]
2009 Commonwealth Book Prize (Best First Book) Winner [33]
2009 Corine Literature Prize Winner [34]
2012 Our Lady of Alice Bhatti Wellcome Trust Book Prize Shortlist [35]
2013 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature Winner [36]

Award Return

In opposition to Pakistan's ongoing persecution of the Baloch people and police crackdown during a protest march in Islamabad on 20 December 2023, Mohammed Hanif has returned his "Sitara-e-Imtiaz" award.[37]

Bibliography

Films

  • The Long Night (Script) (2002)

Books

Plays

  • What Now, Now That We Are Dead? (radio play)
  • The Dictator's Wife (2008)

Personal life

Hanif is married to the actress Nimra Bucha.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Interview | Mohammed Hanif: 'To write about politics in Pakistan, you have to go abroad'". The Guardian. Interviewed by Claire Armitstead. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  2. ↑ "Mohammed Hanif". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  3. ↑ Hanif, Mohammed (24 July 2015). "Of Dogs, Faith and Imams". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Hanif, Mohammed (22 January 2016). "Pakistan's Unnecessary Martyrs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "Hay 2012: Freedom of Speech column: Mohammed Hanif". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Hanif, Mohammed (14 November 2013). "Why Pakistan Lionizes Its Tormenters". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "Mohammed Hanif: Places in My Heart – CornellCast". CornellCast. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Mohammed Hanif | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Digital film tells of divided Pakistan". BBC News. 2 July 2002. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "Mohammed Hanif". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  11. ↑ "Mohammed Hanif". the Guardian. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "Review: Red Birds by Mohammed Hanif". The Asian Writer. 22 January 2019. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  13. ↑ Hanif, Mohammed (22 February 2026). "The Rebel English Academy". Dawn. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  14. ↑ Usman, Maryam (3 May 2013). "The Dictator's Wife comes to Islamabad Literature Festival". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  15. ↑ "Author Spotlight: Mohammed Hanif " Archived 31 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Random House
  16. 1 2 "Mohammed Hanif". Random House.
  17. ↑ Hanif, Mohammed (7 August 2009). "Mohammed Hanif on his homecoming to Pakistan". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  18. 1 2 Higgins, Charlotte (31 October 2008). "Five of the best in line for the Guardian first book award". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  19. ↑ Prize Archive 2008, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), The Man Booker Prize website. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  20. ↑ 2009 Winners, "Past winners". Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2012., The Commonwealth Foundation Website. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  21. ↑ "The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2008 – The Winner", Remembering Shakti Bhatt webpage, 27 January 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  22. ↑ "Mohammed Hanif". International Literature Festival Berlin. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  23. ↑ "Recent Wave Activity: The Dictator's Wife". Archived 3 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine, The Wave Theatre Website. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  24. ↑ Yassin-Kassab, Robin (7 October 2007), "Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif – review". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  25. ↑ Williams, Charlotte (15 October 2012). "Random House gets four nods for Wellcome Trust Book Prize". The Bookseller. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  26. ↑ Nair, Supriya (21 November 2012). "DSC Prize 2013 shortlist announced". Mint. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  27. ↑ "Writer-journalist Mohammed Hanif honored with Sitara-e-Imtiaz". Pakistan Press Foundation. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  28. ↑ "Opera America Page for Bhutto". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  29. ↑ Karim, Asim (2020). "Mohammed Hanif's Red Birds: "Anti-colonial textuality" and beyond". Journal of Postcolonial Writing. 56 (6): 747–760. doi:10.1080/17449855.2020.1782250. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  30. ↑ Masih, Archana (18 January 2012), "The Mohammed Hanif interview", rediff.com. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  31. ↑ "Mohammed Hanif". The Booker Prizes. The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  32. ↑ "Literarybuzz: The Wandering Falcon wins first book prize in India". Dawn. Karachi. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  33. ↑ "Public lecture with Mohammed Hanif". University of Texas at Austin, Department of English. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  34. ↑ Qureshi, Iman (2011). "An interview with Mohammed Hanif". Journal of Postcolonial Writing. 47 (2). Taylor & Francis: 186–191. doi:10.1080/17449855.2011.557193. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  35. ↑ "Mohammed Hanif". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  36. ↑ "Four Pakistanis long-listed for DSC Prize for South Asian Literature". Dawn. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  37. ↑ "Pakistan Author Mohammed Hanif Returns 'Sitara-e-Imtiaz' After Baloch March Crackdown". The Wire. 25 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  38. ↑ "A Case of Exploding Mangoes". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  39. ↑ Yassin-Kassab, Robin (7 October 2011). "Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  40. ↑ Wattenbarger, Melanie (September 2012). "Our Lady of Alice Bhatti – Mohammed Hanif". World Literature Today. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  41. ↑ Baig, Sara (31 October 2017). "Realism vs Magical Realism in Mohammad Hanif's Our Lady of Alice Bhatti". Linguistics and Literature Review. 3 (2): 87–102. doi:10.32350/llr.v3i2.272. Retrieved 6 June 2026.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  42. ↑ Siddique, Amna; Qasim, Khamsa (8 September 2024). "'Wound is the Place Where Light Enters You': En-Visioning Speaking Shame and Shame Resilience in Muhammad Hanif's Our Lady of Alice Bhatti". Pakistan Journal of Gender Studies. 24 (2). doi:10.46568/pjgs.v24i2.780. Retrieved 6 June 2026.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  43. ↑ Rehman, Atika (16 February 2013). "KLF: The missing Baloch are among us". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  44. ↑ Farhan, Mohammad (Spring 2019). "Red Birds by Mohammed Hanif". World Literature Today. University of Oklahoma. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  45. ↑ Ahsan, Kamil (6 January 2020). "Mohammed Hanif, Red Birds". Chicago Review. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  46. ↑ Nayeri, Dina (10 October 2018). "Red Birds by Mohammed Hanif review – a thrilling satire of US foreign policy". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  47. ↑ Saha, Sukanya (October–December 2019). "Book Review: Mohammed Hanif's Red Birds: a Wildly Satiric, Piercingly Real and Darkly Humorous Narrative". Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities. 11 (3). doi:10.21659/rupkatha.v11n3.08. Retrieved 6 June 2026.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  48. ↑ Gorra, Michael (2 February 2026). "Rebel English Academy by Mohammed Hanif review – a sure-fire Booker contender". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Mohammed Hanif.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.