Aamer Hussein
Encyclopedia
Aamer Hussein is a Pakistani
short story writer and critic.
. He studied in Ootacamund
, South India
, for two years before moving to London
in 1970. Hussein is fluent in seven languages: English
, Urdu
, Hindi
, French
, Italian
, Spanish
and Persian.
, Urdu
and History at the School of Oriental and African Studies
, and later taught Urdu for many years at the SOAS Language Centre. He has since lectured in the English Department at Queen Mary, University of London
, and is currently Director of the MA programme in National and International Literatures at the School of Advanced Study
's Institute of English Studies (Senate House). He has also held writing fellowships at the University of Southampton
and at Imperial College London
, and served as a judge for the Commonwealth Prize (2007) and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (2002).
Some of his earliest stories, such 'The Colour of a Loved Person's Eyes', 'Little Tales', 'Your Children' and 'Karima' appeared in journals and anthologies in the late eighties and early nineties. His first collection of stories, Mirror to the Sun, was published in 1993. Since then, to increasing critical acclaim from contemporaries such as Shena Mackay, William Palmer, Mary Flanagan, Amit Chaudhuri and Tabish Khair, he has published four further collections - This Other Salt (1999), Turquoise (2002), Cactus Town (2003), and Insomnia (2007) - as well as the novella, Another Gulmohar Tree (2009). He has also edited a volume of stories by Pakistani women, Kahani (2005) which includes his own translations from the Urdu of Altaf Fatima, Khalida Hussain and Hijab Imtiaz Ali. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2004. His reviews have appeared in the Literary Review, TLS, New Statesman and are now regularly seen on the book pages of The Independent
. He has also written essays on Urdu literature for The Annual of Urdu Studies and Moving Worlds. A new work of fiction, provisionally titled Gulmohar, is scheduled for publication in 2009. He lives in Little Venice, London, and spends most winter vacations in Asia.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
short story writer and critic.
Early life and education
He grew up in Karachi, where he attended Lady Jennings School and the Convent of Jesus and Mary. He spent most summers with his mother's family in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He studied in Ootacamund
Ootacamund
Ootacamund , is a town, a municipality and the district capital of the Nilgiris district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Ootacamund is a popular hill station located in the Nilgiri Hills...
, South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
, for two years before moving to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1970. Hussein is fluent in seven languages: English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Persian.
Career
He read PersianPersian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
and History at the School of Oriental and African Studies
School of Oriental and African Studies
The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...
, and later taught Urdu for many years at the SOAS Language Centre. He has since lectured in the English Department at Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, and is currently Director of the MA programme in National and International Literatures at the School of Advanced Study
School of Advanced Study
The School of Advanced Study, a postgraduate institution of the University of London, is the UK's national centre for the promotion and facilitation of research in the humanities and social sciences...
's Institute of English Studies (Senate House). He has also held writing fellowships at the University of Southampton
University of Southampton
The University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England, a member of the Russell Group. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902, the Institution developed...
and at Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
, and served as a judge for the Commonwealth Prize (2007) and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (2002).
Some of his earliest stories, such 'The Colour of a Loved Person's Eyes', 'Little Tales', 'Your Children' and 'Karima' appeared in journals and anthologies in the late eighties and early nineties. His first collection of stories, Mirror to the Sun, was published in 1993. Since then, to increasing critical acclaim from contemporaries such as Shena Mackay, William Palmer, Mary Flanagan, Amit Chaudhuri and Tabish Khair, he has published four further collections - This Other Salt (1999), Turquoise (2002), Cactus Town (2003), and Insomnia (2007) - as well as the novella, Another Gulmohar Tree (2009). He has also edited a volume of stories by Pakistani women, Kahani (2005) which includes his own translations from the Urdu of Altaf Fatima, Khalida Hussain and Hijab Imtiaz Ali. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2004. His reviews have appeared in the Literary Review, TLS, New Statesman and are now regularly seen on the book pages of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
. He has also written essays on Urdu literature for The Annual of Urdu Studies and Moving Worlds. A new work of fiction, provisionally titled Gulmohar, is scheduled for publication in 2009. He lives in Little Venice, London, and spends most winter vacations in Asia.