Muneeza Shamsie
Encyclopedia
Muneeza Shamsie is a Pakistani writer, critic, bibliographer and freelance journalist. She was born in Lahore
, Pakistan
into a literary-minded family, and was educated in England
. She is daughter of the writer Jahanara Habibullah. She grew up with a strong social and literary conscience stemming from the political and feminist views of Begum Inam Habibullah, her paternal grandmother.
Shamsie lives in Karachi
and is the Regional Chairperson (Europe and South Asia) of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for 2010 and 2011. She is Guest Editor of a Special Pakistan Issue of the Journal of Postcolonial Writing (forthcoming May 2011).
She has also contributed to several scholarly publications including Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Archiv fur der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen, Commonwealth Essays and Studies and the online The Literary Encyclopedia, and The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Fiction.
She is a regular contributor to the Dawn
newspaper, Newsline and She magazines on literary affairs. Since 1982, her freelance feature writing has covered diverse topics, from archaeology to feminism, but literature has always been her main focus. She is also on the editorial board of Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies
.
Shamsie has spoken about Pakistani English literature at many literary forums, conferences and seminars. Her short fiction has appeared in various anthologies and The Toronto Review and Nephra. She is a founding member of a Karachi
hospital the Kidney Centre and Life member of the Association of Children with Emotional and Learning Problems (ACELP, where she also taught music and mime at ACELP's school, as a volunteer for seven years.
Shamsie's most acclaimed works are her compilation of the works of Pakistani writers who are writing in English. The American edition of her third anthology And The World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women was published with an expanded introduction and new headwords by The Feminist Press at CUNY and won in the United States and the 2009 IPPY (Independent Publisher of the Year) Gold Award and the 2008 Foreword Magazine Book of The Year Bronze Award - both for the best anthology by an independent publisher.
She is the mother of the prominent young Pakistani novelist Kamila Shamsie
and the children's writer, Saman Shamsie.
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, Pakistan
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...
into a literary-minded family, and was educated in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. She is daughter of the writer Jahanara Habibullah. She grew up with a strong social and literary conscience stemming from the political and feminist views of Begum Inam Habibullah, her paternal grandmother.
Shamsie lives in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
and is the Regional Chairperson (Europe and South Asia) of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for 2010 and 2011. She is Guest Editor of a Special Pakistan Issue of the Journal of Postcolonial Writing (forthcoming May 2011).
She has also contributed to several scholarly publications including Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Archiv fur der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen, Commonwealth Essays and Studies and the online The Literary Encyclopedia, and The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Fiction.
She is a regular contributor to the Dawn
Dawn (newspaper)
Dawn is Pakistan's oldest and most widely read English-language newspaper. One of the country's two largest English-language dailies, it is the flagship of the Dawn Group of Newspapers, published by Pakistan Herald Publications, which also owns the Herald, a magazine, the evening paper The Star and...
newspaper, Newsline and She magazines on literary affairs. Since 1982, her freelance feature writing has covered diverse topics, from archaeology to feminism, but literature has always been her main focus. She is also on the editorial board of Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies
Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies
Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies is a peer-reviewed open access academic journal established in 2009, which covers research on Pakistan-related topics. It is published triannually by the English Department of the University of North Texas and is also sponsored by the American Institute...
.
Shamsie has spoken about Pakistani English literature at many literary forums, conferences and seminars. Her short fiction has appeared in various anthologies and The Toronto Review and Nephra. She is a founding member of a Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
hospital the Kidney Centre and Life member of the Association of Children with Emotional and Learning Problems (ACELP, where she also taught music and mime at ACELP's school, as a volunteer for seven years.
Shamsie's most acclaimed works are her compilation of the works of Pakistani writers who are writing in English. The American edition of her third anthology And The World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women was published with an expanded introduction and new headwords by The Feminist Press at CUNY and won in the United States and the 2009 IPPY (Independent Publisher of the Year) Gold Award and the 2008 Foreword Magazine Book of The Year Bronze Award - both for the best anthology by an independent publisher.
She is the mother of the prominent young Pakistani novelist Kamila Shamsie
Kamila Shamsie
Kamila Shamsie is a Pakistani novelist who writes in the English language. She was brought up in Karachi and attended Karachi Grammar School....
and the children's writer, Saman Shamsie.
Books
- A Dragonfly in the Sun: An Anthology of Pakistani Writing in English (1997) ISBN 0-19-577784-0
- Leaving Home: Towards A New Millennium: A Collection of English Prose by Pakistani Writers (2001) ISBN 0-19-579529-6
- And The World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women (2005) ISBN 81-88965-23-5
- And The World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women (2008) (US edition) ISBN 978-1-55861-580-9