Rekha Waheed (;

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Waheed) is an English novelist and writer of

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

descent. She has written four novels including 2004's ''The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage'', and 2010's ''Saris and the City'' and '' My Bollywood Wedding''.

Early life

Rekha Waheed was born in

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, its ...

, London, England to parents of

origin. She completed her MSc in economic development at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Whilst pursuing her passion for writing she travelled the world as a corporate consultant. However, she soon caught the attention of a literary agent delivering public readings at the Harrow Writers' club.

Career

In October 2005, Waheed's debut novel ''The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage'' was published by Monsoon Press. In April 2010, her second novel ''Saris and the City'' was published by Little Black Dress, followed by her third novel ''Adam Akbar – Master of Poverty'' by Perfect Publishers in June 2010, and then her fourth novel '' My Bollywood Wedding'' by Little Black Dress in December 2010. Waheed says her natural writing style is

first-person narrative A first-person narrative (also known as a first-person perspective, voice, point of view, etc.) is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from that storyteller's own personal point of view, using first-person grammar su ...

. Her distinct style has been described as "bridging the gap between old world traditions with new world savvy". In June 2005, Waheed co-founded Monsoon Press Publisher with

Rabina Khan Rabina Khan (; born 15 September 1972) is a Bangladeshi-born British writer, politician, former councillor for Shadwell and Cabinet Member for Housing in Tower Hamlets Council, community worker and author of '' Ayesha's Rainbow''. In 2015, she ...

. Rekha Waheed Through Monsoon Press, she works with the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

and

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

to raise the profile of British Ethnic and Muslim literature. She has previously worked as a columnist for '' Bangla Mirror'' and sat on the board of Women in Publishing. In addition, she has worked voluntarily as a treasurer for a Bengali community organisation. She is currently represented by MBA Literary Agency. In 2006, Waheed read at the London Literacy Event. In 2007, she read at the Spitalfields Literacy Event. In 2006, she was cited by '' Asian Woman magazine'' as one of the "Faces to Watch" and one of the fastest rising

British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6 ...

s in media. She is regular guest on

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...

, women's programmes, and literary and social events to debate social issues affecting British Asians in the west.

Personal life

Waheed is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Novels

References

External links