Murad Kalam (born Godffrey Williams; ar, مراد قلم) is an American writer. Kalam was born to a Jamaican father and a white mother. His family moved around the country frequently before settling in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, where he grew up. In 1999, Kalam graduated from Harvard College, where he studied writing under Jamaica Kincaid and published in the '' Harvard Advocate''. He graduated from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 2002. While in his second year of law school, Kalam published his first short story, "Bow Down," in '' Harper's'', which won an O. Henry Award. Shortly thereafter he published his first novel, ''Night Journey''. In 2002, he was awarded a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to write his second novel, ''A Reasonable Man'', in Egypt. He currently lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Rashann Duvall, whom he met in law school. He is a faculty member in the English department at the University of Maryland, College Park. Kalam is a convert to orthodox

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. His chosen name means "desire of the pen".How to Live? (September-October 2002)

References

External links

Murad Kalam website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalam, Murad American male writers Living people Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni American Muslims Converts to Islam Harvard Advocate alumni Year of birth missing (living people)