Sheena Patel
{{Short description|British author and poet}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| image = sheena patel 2021.jpg
| caption = Patel in 2021
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| alma_mater = Queen Mary University of London
| occupation = Novelist
| years_active = 2017–present
| website =
| known for = I'm a Fan (2022)
}}
Sheena Patel is a British author and film director. She is part of the collective 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE, with which she released her first published work, This Is What Love Is, as part of a set of pamphlets in a 2021 collection named for the collective.
Her debut novel, I'm a Fan, was published by Rough Trade Books in 2022 and received recognition including the Discover Book of the Year at the 2023 British Book Awards and The Observer Best Debut Novel of 2022. It was longlisted for the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for other accolades.
Early life and education
Patel is a second-generation immigrant{{Cite web |last=Butter |first=Susannah |date=2022-07-14 |title=I'm A Fan: Author Sheena Patel's stunning debut |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/esmagazine/author-sheena-patel-debut-book-im-a-fan-b1011772.html |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}} with a Kenyan-Indian father and a Mauritian mother. She was born in northwest London{{Cite news |last=Patel |first=Sheena |date=2023-04-29 |title=On my radar: Sheena Patel's cultural highlights |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/apr/29/on-my-radar-sheena-patel-cultural-highlights |access-date=2023-09-28 |issn=0261-3077}} and was a voracious reader from early in life, reading what she describes as a large amount of "filthy books" for her young age.
She studied English literature at Queen Mary University alongside Sharan Hunjan{{Cite web |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.17658/issn.2058-5462/issue-13/acorreia/figure6 |access-date=2023-10-10 |doi=10.17658/issn.2058-5462/issue-13/acorreia/figure6 }} and Rosh Goyate. The three women, along with Sunnah Khan, formed 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE in 2017.{{Cite web |date=2021-02-26 |title="There's A Freedom In Resisting Definition": Meet 4 Writers (And Friends) Doing Poetry Their Way |url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/four-brown-girls-who-write-interview |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=British Vogue |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE - Roshni Goyate, Sharan Hunjan, Sheena Patel & |url=https://roughtradebooks.com/products/4-brown-girls-who-write |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Rough Trade Books |language=en}}
Career
The collective performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before publishing its first collection in 2021. Patel's work on I'm a Fan came after the January 6 United States Capitol attack, when she observed that "Love and hate and destruction all became intertwined, and I thought, This is what it’s like being infatuated with someone who is emotionally unavailable."{{Cite web |date=2023-09-06 |title=BOMB Magazine {{!}} Sheena Patel Interviewed |url=https://bombmagazine.org/articles/sheena-patel-interviewed/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=BOMB Magazine}} The novel was a critical success and won various awards.{{Cite web |last=Hassan |first=Beril Naz |date=2023-05-16 |title=British Book Awards 2023: Full list of this year's winners |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/british-book-awards-2023-winners-list-b1081396.html |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}{{Cite news |last1=Cummins |first1=Anthony |last2=Kenny |first2=Ursula |last3=Anderson |first3=Hephzibah |last4=Ghadiali |first4=Ashish |date=2022-01-16 |title=Introducing our 10 best debut novelists of 2022 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jan/16/introducing-our-10-best-debut-novelists-of-2022 |access-date=2023-09-28 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}{{Cite web |last=Passmore |first=Lynsey |date=2023-03-07 |title=Announcing the 2023 Women's Prize longlist! |url=https://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/features/features/news/announcing-the-2023-womens-prize-longlist |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Women's Prize for Fiction}}{{Cite web |title=2023 Shortlist - Swansea University |url=https://www.swansea.ac.uk/dylan-thomas-prize/shortlist-2023/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=www.swansea.ac.uk}}{{Cite web |title=2023 |url=https://www.jhalakprize.com/2023 |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Jhalak Prize |language=en}}
Patel has previously worked in film and television as an assistant director.{{Cite web |title=C&W Agency |url=https://cwagency.co.uk/client/sheena-patel-4 |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=cwagency.co.uk}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Patel |first=Sheena |title=I'm a Fan |publisher=Rough Trade Books |year=2022 |isbn=9781914236150 |edition=hardcover 1st |location=Aylesbury |author-mask=2}}{{Cite book |last=Patel |first=Sheena |title=I'm a fan |date=2022 |publisher=Rough Trade Books |isbn=978-1-914236-19-8 |edition=Third |location=Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Instagram|id=imightbesheenapatel}}
- [https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16612475.Sheena_Patel Sheena Patel] on Goodreads
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Category:Alumni of Queen Mary University of London
Category:British Asian writers
Category:British people of Indo-Kenyan descent
Category:British women film directors
Category:English people of Kenyan descent
Category:English people of Indian descent
Category:English people of Mauritian descent