Mohammed Hanif (born November 1964) is a

British-Pakistani British Pakistanis (; also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are Britons or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in the UK who are of Pakistani descent, Pakist ...

writer and journalist''.'' His work has been published by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. Hanif worked as a correspondent for the

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

based in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

and was the writer of a feature film about the city, ''The Long Night.'' Hanif has written two novels, '' A Case of Exploding Mangoes''. and ''

Our Lady of Alice Bhatti Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" Places * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France Other uses * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a governm ...

'', as well as a play, ''The Dictator's Wife,'' which was staged at the

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. History The original ''Hampstead Theatre Clu ...

Life

He was born in Okara,

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. He graduated from

Pakistan Air Force Academy The Pakistan Air Force Academy Asghar Khan (PAFAA) is an accredited four-year military academy which provides undergraduate education to officer candidates of the Pakistan Armed Forces, primarily the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).Shaheen Foundati ...

as a pilot officer, but subsequently left to pursue a career in journalism. He initially worked for Newsline and wrote for ''

'' and ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

''. He is a graduate of the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

. In 1996, he moved to London to work for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Later, he became the head of the BBC's Urdu service in London. He moved back to Pakistan in 2008.

Works

His first novel '' A Case of Exploding Mangoes'' (2008) was shortlisted for the 2008

Guardian First Book Award The Guardian First Book Award was a literary award presented by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. It annually recognised one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999, replacing the Guardian Fiction Award or Guardian Fiction Prize that the newspa ...

and longlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize. It won the 2009

Commonwealth Book Prize Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First ...

in the Best First Book category and the 2008 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize. Hanif has also written for the stage and screen, including a feature film, ''The Long Night'' (2002), a BBC radio play, ''What Now, Now That We Are Dead?'', and the stage play ''The Dictator's Wife'' (2008). His second novel, ''Our Lady of Alice Bhatti'', was published in 2011. It was shortlisted for the

Wellcome Trust Book Prize Wellcome Book Prize (2009–2019 — paused) is an annual British literary award sponsored by Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 ...

(2012), and the

DSC Prize for South Asian Literature The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is an international literary prize awarded annually to writers of any ethnicity or nationality writing about South AsiaNote: South Asia for the purposes of the prize is defined as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka ...

(2013). He is currently collaborating with composer

Mohammed Fairouz Mohammed Fairouz (born November 1, 1985) is an American composer. He is one of the most frequently performed composers of his generation and has been described by Daniel J. Wakin of ''The New York Times'' as an "important new artistic voice". ...

on an opera titled ''Bhutto''. In 2018, he wrote a novel called ''Red Birds''. Hanif's style has often been compared with that of the author

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

, 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 " erybody of a certain age wanted to write like Rushdie and so did I", he would not want being "hunted around the world."

Award Return

In opposition to Pakistan's ongoing persecution of the Baloch people and police crackdown during a protest march in Islamabad on December 20, 2023, Mohammed Hanif has returned his "

Sitara-e-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

" award.

Bibliography

Films

* ''The Long Night'' (Script) (2002)

Novels

* '' A Case of Exploding Mangoes'' (2008) * ''

'' (2011) * ''The Baloch who is not missing and others who are'' (2013) * ''Red Birds'' (2018)

Plays

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

Personal life

Hanif is married to the actress

Nimra Bucha Nimra Bucha () is a Pakistani actress who has appeared in a variety of TV serials, films, web-series and has also worked in theatre. She played the role of Saadat Hassan Manto's muse in Sarmad Khoosat's ''Manto (2015 film), Manto'' which earne ...

References

External links

Man Booker Prize Interview
*

*Adil Najam
"Mohammed Hanif's Ten Myths About Pakistan"
''All Things Pakistan'', 11 January 2009
Audio slideshow interview with Mohammed Hanif
talking about ''A Case of Exploding Mangoes'' on The Interview Online
Audio: Mohammed Hanif in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion programme
'' The Forum''
"Mohammed Hanif on being longlisted for the Man Booker"
manbookerprise.com

* ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/ Mohammad Hanif articles on BBC Urdubr>Interview with Papercuts literary magazine on writing technique, elitism in Pakistani writing in English and hypocrisy in Pakistani society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanif, Mohammed 1964 births 21st-century British novelists 21st-century male writers 21st-century Pakistani novelists Alumni of the University of East Anglia English-language writers from Pakistan Living people Male dramatists and playwrights Male novelists Pakistan Air Force Academy alumni Pakistan Air Force officers Pakistani dramatists and playwrights Pakistani expatriates in England Pakistani male journalists Pakistani male writers Pakistani novelists People from Okara District Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz British male journalists