Shahnaz Habib is an Indian essayist, fiction writer, travel writer, and translator based in the United States of America. She teaches writing at

Bay Path University Bay Path University is a private university in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, United States. Bay Path offers both all-women bachelor's degree programs (both on-campus and online) and co-educational graduate programs. Founded in 1897 as the Bay Pa ...

and

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

, and works as a consultant for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. In 2018, she received the JCB Prize for Literature.

Biography

Habib grew up in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

and is currently based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Her poem ''

Of Hypocrisy and Cheekbones "Of Hypocrisy and Cheekbones" is an Indian poem by the Indian English writer and translator, Shahnaz Habib. The poem won first place at the Ninth All India Poetry Competition held by The Poetry Society (India) in 2000. Comments and criticism T ...

'' won the First Prize in the Ninth ''National Poetry Competition'' in 2000 organized by

The Poetry Society (India) The Poetry Society (India) was formed in July 1984 at New Delhi as a voluntary association to promote Indian poetry and to look after the interests of Indian Poets. The founding members included the Indian poets Keshav Malik, Jagannath Prasad Da ...

in collaboration with

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

. Her short story "Something Special About Sayyida" was selected for the anthology ''21 under 40.'' Her essays, travel writing, and criticism have appeared in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', '' Afar'', the anthology ''Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers'', and many other publications. Her work has twice been named to the Notable Essays and Literary Nonfiction list by the ''

Best American Essays ''The Best American Essays'' is a yearly anthology of magazine articles published in the United States.Robert Atwan (ed.), Adam Gopnick (guest ed.). ''The Best American Essays 2008'', Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. It was started in 1986 and is ...

'' series.

Awards

Her English translation of the novel ''Jasmine Days'', from the

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

original by the author Benyamin, won the 2018 JCB Prize for Literature, which each year recognizes a distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer working in English or translated fiction by an Indian writer. She was awarded the New American Voices Award in 2024 by the Institute for Immigration Research in the US for her

nonfiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively ...

book Airplane Mode.

Notes

External links

*''PaperPlanes'' (22/02/2019)
Interview : Conversations with men and women of wit, humour and letters

“Apropos of Nothing” – Shahnaz Habib in ''The New Yorker''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Habib, Shahnaz American women writers of Indian descent English-language poets from India Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American women writers Writers from Brooklyn All India Poetry Prize

Biography

Awards

See also

Notes

External links