Wikipedia

Mohammed Hanif

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]

Mohammed Hanif
Hanif Mohammed Koeln
Hanif Mohammed Koeln
BornNovember 1964 (age 61)
Okara, Punjab, Pakistan
OccupationWriter, journalist
Nationality Pakistan
 United Kingdom
Alma materUniversity of East Anglia, Pakistan Air Force Academy
Period2008–present
Notable worksA Case of Exploding Mangoes
Notable awardsWellcome Book Prize, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Commonwealth Prize for Best Book
SpouseNimra Bucha[1]

Life

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Films

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  • The Long Night (Script) (2002)

Books

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Plays

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

Personal life

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

References

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  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. ↑ Farhan, Mohammad (Spring 2019). "Red Birds by Mohammed Hanif". World Literature Today. University of Oklahoma. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  46. ↑ Ahsan, Kamil (6 January 2020). "Mohammed Hanif, Red Birds". Chicago Review. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  47. ↑ Nayeri, Dina (10 October 2018). "Red Birds by Mohammed Hanif review – a thrilling satire of US foreign policy". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  48. ↑ 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)
  49. ↑ Gorra, Michael (2 February 2026). "Rebel English Academy by Mohammed Hanif review – a sure-fire Booker contender". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
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