Visiting Authors
from Sharjah International Book Fair
November 5-12, 2015
Visiting Authors from Sharjah International Book Fair
Thursday, November 5

1:00 p.m.
o Sefi Atta
Sefi Atta was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1964. She was educated there, in England and
the United States.
A former chartered accountant and CPA, she is the author of Everything Good Will
Come (2005), Swallow (2010), News from Home (2010) and A Bit of Difference (2013).
In 2006, she was awarded the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, and in
2009 the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa.
In 2010 she was on the jury for the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Also a
playwright, her radio plays have been broadcast by the BBC and her stage plays have
been performed internationally.
She divides her time between Nigeria, England and the United States.
Website: www.sefiatta.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sefi-Atta/61938959506

2:00 p.m. in Hall B, Main Building
o Ben Okri
Ben Okri has published many books, including The Famished Road, which won the Man
Booker Prize. His work has been translated into 26 languages and won numerous
international prizes including the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Africa, the Paris
Review Aga Khan Prize for Fiction, and the Chianti Ruffino-Abtico Fattore International
Literary Prize. His most recent book is The Age of Magic, which was his first novel for
seven years.
Okri is a vice-president of the English Centre of International PEN and was presented
the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum for his outstanding contribution to the
Arts and cross-cultural understanding in 1995. He has been a Fellow Commoner in
Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge and is an honorary fellow of Mansfield
College, Cambridge. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 1987 he was
awarded an OBE in 2001.
He was born in Nigeria, and lives in London.
Website: http://benokri.co.uk/

3:00 p.m.
o Fatima Bhutto
Fatima Bhutto was born in Kabul. She is the author of The Shadow of the Crescent Moon
and Songs of Blood and Sword.
A Pakistani poet and writer born into the Bhutto family, she is the granddaughter
of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nusrat Bhutto, niece of Benazir Bhutto and Shahnawaz Bhutto,
and daughter of Murtaza Bhutto.
Bhutto came to public note after the publication of her first book, a collection of
poems, Whispers of the Desert. She received notable coverage for her second book,
8:50 a.m. 8 October 2005.
Bhutto is active in Pakistan's social-political arena, supporting her stepmother
Ghinwa Bhutto's party the Pakistan People’s Party (Shaheed Bhutto), but has no desire
to run for political office.
Website: www.fatimabhutto.com.pk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/fbhutto
Instagram: https://instagram.com/fbhutto/
Visiting Authors from Sharjah International Book Fair

4:00 p.m.
o Joan Bauer (creative writing workshop)
Joan Baehler Bauer is an American writer of young adult literature and currently resides
in Brooklyn. The main characters in her books are typically teenagers who are dealing
with complicated family issues, such as alcoholism, abandonment, illness, and selfesteem issues, but such issues are faced with a light touch and humor is added in to
lighten it up.
Bauer was born in River Forest, Illinois, in 1951. Before publishing her first book, she
worked for the Chicago Tribune, McGraw-Hill books, and WLS Radio. She has won
several awards for her writing including a Los Angeles Times Book Prize (for young-adult
literature, Rules of the Road, in 1998), a Golden Kite Award from the Society of
Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (for fiction, Rules of the Road, in 1999), and a
Christopher Award (Close to Famous, one of six Books for Young People named in 2012).
Bauer is married and the parent of one daughter.
Bauer's first book was set in rural Iowa: Squashed, published in 1992 by Delacorte
Press, a Dell Publishing imprint. According to Delacorte, she won its annual Prize for an
Outstanding First Young Adult Novel. An excerpt: "Sixteen-year-old Ellie Morgan's life
would be almost perfect if she could just get her potentially prize-winning pumpkin to
put on about 200 more pounds—and if she could take off 20 herself ... in hopes of
attracting Wes, the new boy in town."
Her novel Hope Was Here, published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 2000, was one of four
Newbery Honor Books, or runners-up for the 2001 Newbery Medal. The American Library
Association award recognizes the year's most distinguished contribution to American
children's literature; a distinct award for young-adult books had been introduced in
2000, the Michael L. Printz Award. Hope Was Here features Hope Yancey, a 16-year-old
waitress in small-town Wisconsin. According to the Newbery Committee chair, "Bauer
juggles story lines as well as Hope juggles plates, and the lessons of waitressing expand
into lessons about the essentials of life."
Sunday, November 8

1:00 p.m.
o Elizabeth Buchan
Elizabeth Buchan began her career as a blurb writer at Penguin Books after graduating
from the University of Kent with a double degree in English and History. She moved on
to become a fiction editor at Random House before leaving to write.
Her novels include the prizewinning Consider the Lily and Revenge of the MiddleAged Woman which was an international bestseller and was made into a CBS Primetime
Drama. Later novels include Separate Beds and Daughters. Her latest, I Can’t Begin to
Tell You, a story of resistance in wartime Denmark, was published in paperback in 2015.
Her short stories are broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in magazines. She
reviews for the Sunday Times and the Daily Mail, and has chaired the Betty Trask and
Desmond Elliot literary prizes. She was a judge for the Whitbread First Novel Award and
for the 2014 Costa Novel Award. She is a patron of the Guildford Book Festival and of
The National Academy of Writing, and sits on the author committee for The Reading
Agency.
Website: www.elizabethbuchan.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/elizabethbuchan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethBuchanAuthor
Visiting Authors from Sharjah International Book Fair

2:00 p.m.
o Sorayya Khan
Sorayya Khan is the author of three novels, Noor (2003), Five Queen’s Road (2009) and
City of Spies (2015).
She was awarded a US Fulbright Research Grant to conduct research in Pakistan and
Bangladesh for one of her novels, and received a Malahat Review Novella Prize for what
became a window into City of Spies.
In 2006, she received a Constance Saltonstall Artist Grant, which took her to Banda
Aceh, Indonesia, where she interviewed tsunami survivors.
Over the years, her work has been published in various literary quarterlies, including
The Kenyon Review and North American Review, and several anthologies. She is the
daughter of a Pakistani father and a Dutch mother, was born in Europe, and moved to
Pakistan as a child. She now lives in New York with her husband and children.

3:00 p.m.
o Arun Budhathoki
Arun Budhathoki, also known as Daniel Song, is a Nepali poet and fiction writer from
Kathmandu, Nepal. He did his undergraduate studies in Nizam College, Hyderabad,
India, and pursued master's degree in the University of Northampton, England. He has
written five books so far. Because of his nomadic nature, he likes travelling around. At
present he lives in Fredericton, Canada.
Budhathoki was born and grew up in Kathmandu. He has an MA in International
Relations from the University of Northampton. He's pursuing his MPhil in Policy Studies
at the University of New Brunswick.
Edge, his first poetry book was published on 2011 and launched on January 24, 2012
by renowned Nepali poet Yuyutsu Sharma; his novella The Lost Boys of Kathmandu
became available as an ebook by Amazon.com on May 30, 2012, and he has public a
book, Poems, on Sikkim. Edge was favorably reviewed by Cha: An Asian Literary
Journal.
His poems have appeared in The Kathmandu Post and The Weather Report, and
selected poems have been published in Journeys (anthologies by Sampad), Happy
Birthday to Me (anthology by The Asian Writer) and Inspired by Tagore.
He's also regularly featured in MadSwirl and is the founder for The Applicant, an
online magazine. He was interviewed by República about getting published in Nepal. His
poetry book Prisoner of an iPad has been released. His poems have been published in
various journals. He is a contributor to The Brunswickan.

4:00 p.m.
o Susan Abulhawa
Susan Abulhawa is a novelist, poet, and political and human rights activist.
A Palestinian-American writer, her debut novel, Mornings in Jenin, was an
international bestseller, translated into 26 languages. Her second novel, The Blue
Between Sky and Water, was released in June 2015. Her 2012 poetry collection is titled
My Voice Sought The Wind.
Website: www.susanabulhawa.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sjabulhawa
Facebook: www.facebook.com/susan.abulhawa
Monday, November 9

3:30 p.m.
o Kerby Rosanes (illustrator)
Visiting Authors from Sharjah International Book Fair
Philippines-based illustrator Kerby Rosanes works mainly with ordinary black fine liners
to magically illustrate his “doodle” world. The 24-year old artist considers his art as a
personal hobby that turned out to be his part-time freelance work after being recognized
by various design blogs, international magazines and online communities.
He recently left his job as a graphic designer in a local company to finally pursue his
passion: creating more art for personal projects and for various clients and collaborating
with other artists and design agencies around the world.
Website: www.kerbyrosanes.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Kerby_Rosanes
Facebook: www.fb.com/sketchystoriesblog
Instagram: https://instagram.com/kerbyrosanes/?hl=en
Tuesday, November 10

3:00 p.m.
o Lucy Beresford
Lucy Beresford is a writer, broadcaster and psychotherapist. She’s the Radio Shrink on
BBC London 94.9 on Friday nights, the Agony Aunt for the women’s glossy Healthy and
forms part of the press panel reviewing the newspapers on Sky News.
Beresford’s latest novel, Invisible Threads, set in New Delhi, is a searing tale of love
and survival. She’s also the author of the best-seller Happy Relationships: at Home,
Work & Play (published in English, Brazilian Portuguese, and Chinese) and the
controversial novel Something I’m Not.
She’s a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, reviews fiction for The Spectator and
Literary Review and is developing a TV documentary on sex trafficking.
Website: www.lucyberesford.co.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lucyberesford
Wednesday, November 11

12:30 p.m.
o Darren Shan
Darren Shan (Darren O’Shaughnessy) was born in London but lives in Ireland with his
wife and one-year-old son. Shan studied sociology and English at Roehampton University
in London. He then worked for a cable television company, before setting up as a fulltime writer.
Shan’s breakthrough came with the publication of Cirque Du Freak in January 2000.
He has now published over 40 books and counting. His work has been adapted into a
manga and a movie, and his books have sold twenty-five million copies worldwide. His
books are on sale in 39 countries, in 31 languages. He has made bestseller charts in
America, Britain, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Taiwan, the
United Arab Emirates, and other countries.
A big film buff, Shan also reads lots of comics and books. Other interests include art,
football, pop and rock music, theatre and travel.
Website: http://www.darrenshan.com/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/darrenshan
Facebook: www.facebook.com/darrenshanofficial
Visiting Authors from Sharjah International Book Fair

2:00 p.m.
o Mahesh Rao
Mahesh Rao was born and grew up in Nairobi, Kenya. His short fiction has been
shortlisted for various awards, including the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. His work
has appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, The Baffler,
Prairie Schooner and Elle.
His debut novel, The Smoke Is Rising, won the Tata First Book Award for fiction and
was shortlisted for the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize and the Crossword Prize. One Point
Two Billion, his collection of short stories, is being published in October 2015.
Website: www.maheshrao.info
Twitter: www.twitter.com/mraozing
Facebook: www.instagram.com/mraozing

3:30 p.m.
o Elaine Proctor
Proctor is a critically acclaimed South African novelist and film-maker. Her latest novel,
The Savage Hour, has been shortlisted for South Africa’s 2015 Sunday Times Barry
Ronge Fiction Prize.
Proctor is the niece of the prolific South African poet Elisabeth Eybers (1917–2007).
She grew up in Johannesburg and attended the first illegal non-racial school in South
Africa. At the age of 16 she joined the anti-apartheid movement and helped by filming
documentaries about the township uprisings in the 70s. She moved to London to study
film at the National Film and Television School under the guidance of Mike Leigh. She
now lives in North London with her husband and two teenage children.
Website: www.elaineproctor.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ElaineProctor2
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Elaine-Proctor/226362840807494
Visiting Authors from Sharjah International Book Fair
Thursday, November 12

4:00 p.m.
o Tanzila Khan (female-only event)
Tanzila Khan’s life is a story of struggles and accomplishments that has redefined her
identity and given her life a new perspective.
At 16, she launched herself with her first novella, A Story of Mexico. In addition to
painting and writing books, she works for education and disability rights in Pakistan. Her
projects include "I Wish Knowledge" affiliated with Global Change-makers (British
Council) and The Ramp Movement. Her production company, Creative Alley, caters to
those individuals who face problems in making their creations accessible to the world.
After representing Pakistan on National and International Forums, she turns her
direction right into the training industry introducing herself as a fresh young trainer
affiliated with the School of Leadership. She conducts workshops not just for youth but
also for parents, especially housewives. She plans to produce healthy entertainment in
the form of theater, documentaries and books.
Her strongest belief could be found in her words of advice: “Leadership involves
initiatives. So in whatever walk of life you are currently in, take an initiative. Because in
later years, initiative will define your identity.”
https://www.facebook.com/Tanzila-Khan-329107200480109/info/?tab=page_info
https://about.me/tanzilakhan
Visiting Authors from Sharjah International Book Fair