Mirza Waheed

{{Infobox person

| name = Mirza Waheed

| image = Mirza_Waheed.jpg

| caption = Mirza in 2016

| birth_date = Mirza Waheed

| birth_place = Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

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| citizenship = British

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| education = Kirori Mal College

| occupation = Journalist and novelist

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| children = 2

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| credits = Author of The Collaborator, The Book of Gold Leaves and Tell Her Everything

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Mirza Waheed is a British novelist and writer. Born and raised in Srinagar, Mirza is known for writing that mainly revolves around the Kashmir conflict and insurgency. Mirza is based in London.{{cite web |url=https://granta.com/contributor/mirza-waheed/ |title=Mirza Waheed |author= |website=Granta |access-date=April 14, 2019 |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127135535/https://granta.com/contributor/mirza-waheed/ |url-status=live }}

Writing career

Mirza has written for the BBC, The Guardian, Granta, Guernica, Al Jazeera English and The New York Times.

His first novel, The Collaborator, was published in 2011 and was a finalist for the Guardian First Book award. It takes place in his homeland of Kashmir, torn in conflict between India and Pakistan. Novelist Kamila Shamsie reviewed it for The Guardian and called it "gripping in its narrative drama...Mirza gives us a portrait of Kashmir itself. Away from the rhetorical posturing of India and Pakistan, he reveals, with great sensitivity and an anger that arises from compassion, what it is to live in a part of the world that is regarded by the national government as the enemy within, and by the government next door as a strategic puppet."{{cite news |last=Shamsie |first=Kamila |date=March 4, 2011 |title=The Collaborator by Mirza Waheed – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/05/collaborator-mirza-waheed-review |work=The Guardian |access-date=April 14, 2019 |archive-date=13 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413060717/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/05/collaborator-mirza-waheed-review |url-status=live }}

Mirza's second novel, The Book of Gold Leaves, was published in 2014.{{cite web | url=http://www.penguin.co.uk/books/the-book-of-gold-leaves/9780241968109/ | title=The Book of Gold Leaves | work=Penguin UK | access-date=25 February 2011 | archive-date=24 November 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141124075534/http://www.penguin.co.uk/books/the-book-of-gold-leaves/9780241968109/ | url-status=live }} A love story between a Sunni and a Shi'ite in troubled 1990s Kashmir, it was reviewed by Alice Albinia in the Financial Times: "A haunting illustration of how, at the end of last century, normal life became impossible for many of those who call Kashmir home."{{cite news |last=Albinia |first=Alice |author-link=Alice Albinia |date=October 24, 2014 |title='The Book of Gold Leaves' by Mirza Waheed |url=https://www.ft.com/content/4058ad18-586d-11e4-a31b-00144feab7de |work=The Financial Times |access-date=April 14, 2019 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414085021/https://www.ft.com/content/4058ad18-586d-11e4-a31b-00144feab7de |url-status=live }}

His third novel, Tell Her Everything, was released in January 2019.Rose, Jaya. 2019 books to watch out for. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/books-and-art/060119/2019-books-to-watch-out-for.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123011106/https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/books-and-art/060119/2019-books-to-watch-out-for.html |date=23 January 2019 }}. Deccan Chronicle . Retrieved 23 January 2019. It is the story of a father who is preparing to reveal his own unsavory past to the now-grown daughter that he sent away to boarding school as a small child.{{cite news |last=Ghoshal |first=Somak |date=March 17, 2019 |title=Book Review: 'Tell Her Everything' by Mirza Waheed |url=https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/features/book-review-tell-her-everything-by-mirza-waheed-1552645243786.html |work=Livemint |access-date=April 14, 2019 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414085018/https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/features/book-review-tell-her-everything-by-mirza-waheed-1552645243786.html |url-status=live }}

Personal life

Mirza and his wife have a son and a daughter and he has said that he limits his book-promotion travels in order to stay home in London and care for them. He worked for the BBC for ten years, but quit in 2011 to devote himself full-time to writing and raising his children.{{cite news |last=Bhura |first=Sneha |date=April 6, 2019 |title=Mirza Waheed on exploring intense father-daughter relationship in third book |url=https://www.theweek.in/theweek/leisure/2019/04/05/mirza-waheed-on-exploring-intense-father-daughter-relationship-in-third-book.html |work=The Week |access-date=April 14, 2019 |archive-date=11 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411134926/https://www.theweek.in/theweek/leisure/2019/04/05/mirza-waheed-on-exploring-intense-father-daughter-relationship-in-third-book.html |url-status=live }}

He plays cricket for the Authors XI team, which is composed of British writers.{{cite book|last=Authors Cricket Club|title=The Authors XI: A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon|publisher=Bloomsbury|location=London|year=2013|isbn=978-1-4088-4045-0}}

Awards and honours

2011 "Books of the Year" for The Collaborator in The Telegraph,{{cite web | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8896940/Books-of-the-Year-2011.html | title=Books of the Year 2011 | work=The Telegraph | date=18 November 2011 | access-date=16 March 2015 | archive-date=28 February 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228160412/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8896940/Books-of-the-Year-2011.html | url-status=live }} New Statesman,{{cite web | url=http://www.newstatesman.com/2011/11/situationist-glorious-life | title=Books of the Year 2011: Hari Kunzru | work=New Statesman | date=17 November 2011 | access-date=16 March 2015 | archive-date=2 April 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402193617/http://www.newstatesman.com/2011/11/situationist-glorious-life | url-status=live }} Business Standard{{cite web | url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/nilanjana-s-roy-the-year-in-books-2011-and-2012-112010300007_1.html | title=Nilanjana S Roy: The year in books - 2011 and 2012 | work=Business Standard | date=3 January 2012 | access-date=16 March 2015 | archive-date=5 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305152459/http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/nilanjana-s-roy-the-year-in-books-2011-and-2012-112010300007_1.html | url-status=live }} and Telegraph India.{{cite web | url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110225/jsp/opinion/story_13629776.jsp | archive-url=https://archive.today/20150316174451/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110225/jsp/opinion/story_13629776.jsp | url-status=dead | archive-date=16 March 2015 | title=Breaking the Silence | work=The Telegraph India | date=28 November 2011 | access-date=25 February 2011 }}
2011 Guardian First Book Award finalist for The Collaborator{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/01/the-book-of-gold-leaves-mirza-waheed-review-novel-kashmir-conflict/ | title=The Book of Gold Leaves review – Mirza Waheed speaks up for Kashmir | work=The Guardian | date=1 November 2014 | access-date=16 March 2015 | author=Ramaswamy, Chitra | archive-date=18 July 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718123759/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/01/the-book-of-gold-leaves-mirza-waheed-review-novel-kashmir-conflict | url-status=live }}
2011 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize finalist for The Collaborator{{cite web | url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/shakti-bhatt-first-book-prize-shortlist-announced/182745-40-100.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927014459/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/shakti-bhatt-first-book-prize-shortlist-announced/182745-40-100.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=27 September 2011 | title=Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize shortlist announced | work=IBN Live | date=28 November 2011 | access-date=16 March 2015 }}
2012 Desmond Elliott Prize longlist for The Collaborator{{cite web | url=http://www.desmondelliottprize.org/previous-winners/the-2011-prize/longlist/the-collaborator-by-mirza-waheed/ | title=The Desmond Elliott Prize 2015 | work=Desmond Elliot | date=2011 | access-date=16 March 2015 | archive-date=2 April 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402173940/http://www.desmondelliottprize.org/previous-winners/the-2011-prize/longlist/the-collaborator-by-mirza-waheed/ | url-status=live }}
2016 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature shortlist for The Book of Gold Leaves{{cite web |url=http://dscprize.com/global/updates/dsc-prize-2016-announces-a-shortlist-of-6-novels.html |title=DSC Prize 2016 Finalists |date=26 November 2015 |access-date=28 November 2015 |archive-date=30 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151130044936/http://dscprize.com/global/updates/dsc-prize-2016-announces-a-shortlist-of-6-novels.html |url-status=dead }}
2019 The Hindu Literary Prize for Tell Her Everything{{Cite news|last=Krithika|first=R.|date=2020-03-28|title=Freedom, we choose|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/freedom-we-choose/article31171825.ece|access-date=2020-12-09|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=24 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824173908/https://www.thehindu.com/books/freedom-we-choose/article31171825.ece|url-status=live}}