Michael Mohammed Ahmad is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

novelist, teacher and community arts worker.

Biography

Ahmad was born in Inner Sydney and attended Punchbowl Boys High School. In 2012, Ahmad founded SWEATSHOP Western Sydney Literacy Movement, an arts organisation that promotes literacy in Western Sydney. In 2014 he published his debut novel ''The Tribe'' with Giramondo. Ahmad has stated he was motivated to write ''The Tribe'' in order to counteract negative stereotypes about Arab Australians that flourished in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. In 2017 Ahmad received his Doctorate of Creative Arts at

Western Sydney University Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus public research university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university in its current form was founde ...

. In 2018 he published '' The Lebs'' with

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette Livre, a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachette Fil ...

, which was shortlisted for the 2019

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the Will (law), will of Miles Franklin ...

. Ahmad was nominated for NSW Young Person of the Year in 2022, recognising both his writing and literacy work.

Bibliography

*'' The Tribe'' ( Giramondo, 2014) *'' The Lebs'' (

Hachette Australia Hachette Livre S.A. (; simply known as Hachette) is a French publishing group that was based in Paris. It was founded in 1826 by Louis Hachette as Brédif which later became successively L. Hachette et Compagnie, Librairie Hachette, Hachette ...

, 2018) *''After Australia'' (editor) (

Affirm Press Affirm Press is a Melbourne-based book publisher. History In 2010, Affirm Press began publishing several books a year as a part-time operation between Martin Hughes, former editor of ''The Big Issue'', and Graeme Wise, founder of The Body Shop A ...

, 2020) *''The Other Half of You'' (Hachette Australia, 2021)

Awards

* Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelists Award (2015) – winner *

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

Multicultural NSW Award (2019) – winner *

Aurealis Award for best anthology The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have ...

(2020) – shortlisted for ''After Australia'' *New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Multicultural NSW Award (2021) – shortlisted for ''After Australia'' *

(2022) – shortlisted for ''The Other Half of You'' *

Queensland Literary Awards The Queensland Literary Awards is an awards program established in 2012 by the Queensland literary community, funded by sponsors and administered by the State Library of Queensland. Like the former Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, the QLAs ...

The University of Queensland Fiction Book Award (2022) – winner for ''The Other Half of You'' *

Voss Literary Prize The Voss Literary Prize is an annual award named in honour of historian Vivian Robert de Vaux Voss (1930–1963). It is awarded to the best novel published in the previous year and is managed and judged by the Australian University Heads of Engl ...

(2022) – shortlisted for ''The Other Half of You''

References

External links

Michael Mohammed Ahmad: His new novel is likely to provoke plenty of discussion
21st-century Australian novelists Living people Writers from Sydney Western Sydney University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-writer-stub