Shahnaz Bashir

Shahnaz Bashir is a Kashmiri novelist and academic from Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.^[1]

Education and work

Shahnaz Bashir is a doctoral fellow and teaching associate in Communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass).^[2] He teaches "Writing As Communication" and "Public Speaking", and has been awarded a commendation for "excellent pedagogy" by the Directorate of Graduate Programs at the Department of Communication at UMass. Earlier in 2021 and 2022, he was consecutively twice a finalist for Distinguished Teaching Award in the Grad Teaching Associate category at the university. He was also awarded the Research Enhancement and Leadership (REAL) Fellowship by UMass.^[3]

Before coming to UMass, he taught narrative journalism and conflict reportage at the Central University of Kashmir.^[4]

Kashmir Life, in its Jan 2016 year-ender special issue, declared Shahnaz as "one of the eleven impact-makers from the entire population of Jammu & Kashmir".^[5]

He is the South Asia juror for the True Story Award, the first-ever global journalism prize instituted in Bern Switzerland.^[6]

Critical acclaim

His debut novel The Half Mother (Hachette, 2014) won the Muse India Young Writer Award 2015.^[7] The Marathi translation of The Half Mother was published in 2017,^[8] the Telugu version came out in December 2022.^[9] The French version of the novel (La Mère Orpheline) was published by Editions du Rocher in Paris.^[10] The Half Mother is the first-ever novel from Kashmir to be translated into a foreign (European) language.

Shahnaz Bashir's second book Scattered Souls (HarperCollins, 2016) was longlisted for "Tata Lit Live Award 2017" for Best Book - Fiction. It was conferred with The Citizen's "Talent of the Year Award 2017".^[11] In April 2018, Kashmir Observer reported "Scattered Souls is the best-selling fiction book in Kashmir till date... Its sales [in the bookstores of Srinagar] have surpassed the other fiction titles by Kashmiri writers writing in English".^[12] His works of fiction have been compared with Saadat Hasan Manto and Anton Chekov.^[13] The Asian Age observed: "There are easy comparisons with Manto in the often-shocking glibness with which Bashir lays bare a character's innermost feelings, or with Chekov in the rootedness of the characters to their circumstances."^[13]

In 2017, Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council awarded him a writer's research residency at Winterthur, Switzerland.^[14]

Books

The Half Mother (Hachette, 2014),^[15]
Scattered Souls (HarperCollins, 2016),^[16]
The Disease forthcoming...^{[citation needed]}

Book chapters

Cinema Palladium, Nachbilder: Eine Foto Text Anthologie (Spector Books via Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and Fotomuseum Winterthur 2021),^[17]
The Gravestone, A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces (Aleph Book Company 2016),^[18]

Awards

Emerging Scholar Award 2024, by Common Ground Research Network, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA^[19]
Research Enhancement and Leadership (REAL) Fellowship (2021-2024), awarded by the University of Massachusetts Amherst^[20]
2023 Winter Non-Working Fellowship, awarded by Directorate of Graduate Studies, Department of Communication, UMass Amherst^[21]
Pro-Helvetia Swiss Arts Council Writer's Residency Award 2018^[22]
The Citizen's Talent of the Year Award 2016-17^{[citation needed]}
Scattered Souls Longlisted for Tata Lit Live Award Best Book Fiction 2017^{[citation needed]}
Winner of Muse India Young Writer Award 2015 for The Half Mother^{[citation needed]}
Shamim Ahmad Shamim Memorial-Kashmir Times Award 2007^{[citation needed]}
University Gold Medal and Award of Merit for a post-graduate degree in media studies, class of 2004-2006^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Naqushbandi, Ubeer (20 January 2017). "I prefer writing to affect my relationship with life at large: Shahnaz Bashir". The Punch Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Shahnaz Bashir". University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Communication. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Department of Communication - Shahnaz Bashir". University of Massachusetts. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Faculty: Shahnaz Bashir". Central University of Kashmir. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ Raafi, Muhammad (27 October 2016). "Award Winning Author Shahnaz Bashir's 'Scattered Souls' Launched". Kashmir Life. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Shahnaz Bashir - Jury". True Story Award. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Author Overview: Shanaz Bashir". HarperCollins Publishers India. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "The Half Mother by Shahnaz Bashir (Translated by Geetanjali Vaishampayan)". Payal Books. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Kanniti Kashmir lo Oka Amma by Shahnaz Bashir". Logili Telugu Books. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "La Mère Orpheline". Éditions du Rocher. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Novelist Shahnaz Bashir wins Talent of the Year Award". Kashmir Observer. 9 March 2017. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Scattered Souls is the best-selling fiction book in Kashmir till date". 23 April 2018.
^ ^a ^b Attari, Karishma (22 January 2017). "Book review: A snapshot of Kashmir with a time and date stamp". The Asian Age. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Shahnaz Bashir - Research Residency 2018". Pro Helvetia. 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "The Half Mother: A Novel by Shahnaz Bashir". Hachette India. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Scattered Souls by Shahnaz Bashir". HarperCollins India. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Nachbilder". Spector Books. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Shahnaz Bashir". The Punch Magazine. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Emerging Scholar Awards 2024". The Image Conference. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Shahnaz Bashir - Directory". University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Communication. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Shahnaz Bashir - Directory". University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Communication. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
^ "Ich wünschte, ich wäre unter normalen Umständen aufgewachsen". Landbote. 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[1] Naqushbandi, Ubeer (20 January 2017). "I prefer writing to affect my relationship with life at large: Shahnaz Bashir". The Punch Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[2] "Shahnaz Bashir". University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Communication. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[3] "Department of Communication - Shahnaz Bashir". University of Massachusetts. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[4] "Faculty: Shahnaz Bashir". Central University of Kashmir. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[5] Raafi, Muhammad (27 October 2016). "Award Winning Author Shahnaz Bashir's 'Scattered Souls' Launched". Kashmir Life. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[6] "Shahnaz Bashir - Jury". True Story Award. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[7] "Author Overview: Shanaz Bashir". HarperCollins Publishers India. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[8] "The Half Mother by Shahnaz Bashir (Translated by Geetanjali Vaishampayan)". Payal Books. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[9] "Kanniti Kashmir lo Oka Amma by Shahnaz Bashir". Logili Telugu Books. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[10] "La Mère Orpheline". Éditions du Rocher. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[11] "Novelist Shahnaz Bashir wins Talent of the Year Award". Kashmir Observer. 9 March 2017. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[12] "Scattered Souls is the best-selling fiction book in Kashmir till date". 23 April 2018.

[Attari2017-13] Attari, Karishma (22 January 2017). "Book review: A snapshot of Kashmir with a time and date stamp". The Asian Age. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[14] "Shahnaz Bashir - Research Residency 2018". Pro Helvetia. 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[15] "The Half Mother: A Novel by Shahnaz Bashir". Hachette India. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[16] "Scattered Souls by Shahnaz Bashir". HarperCollins India. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[17] "Nachbilder". Spector Books. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[18] "Shahnaz Bashir". The Punch Magazine. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[19] "Emerging Scholar Awards 2024". The Image Conference. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[20] "Shahnaz Bashir - Directory". University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Communication. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[21] "Shahnaz Bashir - Directory". University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Communication. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[22] "Ich wünschte, ich wäre unter normalen Umständen aufgewachsen". Landbote. 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

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