Uzma Aslam Khan

Fiction Writer

Belchertown, MA
Massachusetts US

Author's Bio

Uzma Aslam Khan is an award-winning author of five novels translated worldwide to critical acclaim. These include Trespassing, The Geometry of God, Thinner than Skin, and, most recently, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali, published in the US by Deep Vellum in May 2022, and one of the The New York Times' "Books for Summer 2022."

Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Granta, The Massachusetts Review, Nimrod International Journal of Poetry & Prose, Calyx, AGNI, the Guardian, Counterpunch, Drawbridge, and Dawn, among other periodicals journals. Born and raised in Pakistan, Khan has lived in many locations, including England, Japan, Philippines, Morocco, and Oceania. She currently lives in western Massachusetts. Follow her on instagram: @uzmaaslamkhan_writer

 

Publications & Prizes

Books:
The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali (Context Books, 2019)
,
Thinner Than Skin (Interlink Publishing Group, 2012)
,
The Geometry of God (Interlink Publishing Group, 2009)
,
Trespassing (Metropolitan, 2004)
,
The Story of Noble Rot (Penguin Books India, 2001)
Prizes won: 

NOVELS: The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali won the 9th UBL Literary Award in English Language Fiction 2020 as well as the Karachi Literature Festival-Getz Pharma Fiction Prize 2021. Thinner Than Skin won the inaugural French Embassy Prize for Best Fiction at the Karachi Literature Festival 2014. It was also nominated for The Man Asian Literary Prize 2012 & the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2014. The Geometry of God won the Bronze Award in the Independent Publishers Books Awards 2010, was selected as one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2009, and was a finalist of Foreword Magazine’s Best Books of 2009. Trespassing was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Eurasia region) in 2003.
 

 SHORT STORIES: "Plum Island" won first prize in the 23rd Annual Zoetrope: All Story Short Fiction Competition 2019, judged by Tommy Orange. The previous year, Khan's story “My Mother is a Lunar Crater” won second prize in the 22nd Annual Zoetrope: All Story Short Fiction Competition 2018, judged by Colum McCann, making her the first repeat prize winner in the magazine's history. "My Mother is a Lunar Crater" was also nominated for the 4thAnnual Margarita Donnelly Prize for Prose Writing by Calyx journal in November 2018, judged by Molly Gloss. 

Personal Favorites

What I'm reading now: 
Erasure by Percival Everett

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Asian American, Muslim, South Asian
Prefers to work with: 
Adults
Fluent in: 
English, Urdu
Born in: 
Lahore
Pakistan
Raised in: 
Manila, Tokyo, London, and Karachi
Pakistan
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Nov 02, 2022