JOIN USBorn and brought up in Karachi, 44-year-old Kamila Shamsie had her initial education in her hometown, before she moved to Hamilton College for her Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing, followed by an MFA from the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. With eight books to her credit, she is a recipient of several awards.
She published her first novel, In the City by the Sea, when she was just 25. Her latest book, Home Fire, was longlisted for this year’s Booker Prize. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was named a Granta Best of Young British Novelists in 2013. She now lives in London.
Excerpts from an interview:
Why do you write?
Because it’s the best way to be a grown-up while indulging a childhood love.
Did you always want to be a writer?
Yes, from the age of nine.
If not a writer, what would you be?
Unhappy.
What’s the hardest thing about being a writer?
Beginning a novel.
What, according to you, should a novel do?
Reward re-reading.
Your favourite genre?
I don’t really classify books by genre.
Your ideal reader?
The one who is reading my novel at the moment in time when it’s the ideal book for him/her.
Your take on criticism?
It’s gratifying to have someone engage seriously with your work; it’s annoying when someone is lazy about it.
The source of inspiration for your works?
‘Inspiration’ is the most overused word when it comes to writers.
Your favourite authors?
George Eliot, Jane Austen, Joseph Conrad, Michael Ondaatje, Ali Smith, Nadeem Aslam, Tahmima Anam...
Your current read…
Charlie Campbell’s Herding Cats: The Art of Amateur Cricket Captaincy.
An author who hasn’t received his/her due?
Sara Suleri.
Awards mean…
Both a lot and a little.
Where do you see yourself 25 years from now?
I’ve never been one for looking into the future.
A typical day for you…
Wake up, read the paper, write, go for a walk, spend too much time online and too
little time reading, meet friends for dinner.
Your comfort food?
Dal-chawal.
If you could change three things about the world, what would they be?
One thing will suffice: end injustice in all its manifestation. Mind you, the troubled world gives writers more to write about.
If your life was a book, what would the title be?
‘NOT MUCH HAPPENED AND THAT WAS FINE’.