Talk

Mohammed Hanif and Mirza Waheed in conversation

Date and Time:: Thursday 11 June, 6–8pm
Location:: Minassa

Writers Mohammed Hanif and Mirza Waheed come together for a discussion anchored in their new books – Hanif’s Rebel English Academy and Waheed’s Maryam & Son.

The celebrated authors are old friends who worked together for years at the BBC. Waheed read Hanif’s debut, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, in manuscript. Hanif was the first person to read The Collaborator. Their three subsequent novels have arrived into the world at roughly the same time.

In this wide-ranging conversation, they trace the fictional worlds each has built, the recurring preoccupations that have shaped their writing, and what it means to write across literary and political cultures.

Doors open at 5.30pm; event starts at 6pm and ends at 8pm.

Image credit left: Portrait of Mohammed Hanif by Nimra Bucha.

Image credit right: Portrait Mizra Waheed by Mehvish Hussain.

Mohammed Hanif was born in Okara, Pakistan. He graduated from the Pakistan Air Force Academy as Pilot Officer but subsequently left to pursue a career in journalism. His first novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, won the Commonwealth Prize and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. His second novel, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, was shortlisted for the 2012 Wellcome Prize. He has written for the New York Times, BBC Urdu and BBC Punjabi. He lives in London.

Mirza Waheed was born and brought up in Kashmir. His debut novel, The Collaborator, was an international bestseller and short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award. It has been adapted into a feature film. His second novel, The Book of Gold Leaves, was shortlisted for the DSC Prize 2016. Tell Her Everything won the Hindu Prize for Fiction in 2019. Waheed has written for The Guardian, Al Jazeera English, the BBC and Guernica. He lives in London.