Kamila Shamsie was born in Karachi, in 1973, and grew up there before coming to America for her BA (Hamilton College) and MFA (UMass Amherst), both in creative writing.

Her first novel, "In the City by the Sea" was accepted for publication while she was still at UMass, and was published in England and India in 1998. It was shortlisted for the John Llewelyn Rhys/Mail on Sunday award in the U.K and won the Prime Minister's Award for Literature in Pakistan in 1999.

Her second novel, 'Salt and Saffron' has been published in the U.S, the U.K, Pakistan and Italy.

Kamila Shamsie comes from a line of writers. Her mother, Muneeza Shamsie, is a critic, journalist and short story writer, who edited the anthology 'A Dragonfly in the Sun' for Oxford University Press (1997); 'Dragonfly' has been referred to as the definitive collection of poetry and fiction in English by Pakistani writers.

Kamila's grandmother, Jahanara Habibullah, is also a writer -- her memoirs (written in English, translated in Urdu) about courtly life in the state of Rampur, pre-partition, will be published by OUP later this year.

The Indian novelist and short story writer, Attia Hosein ('Sunlight on a Broken Column' and 'Phoenix Fled') was Kamila's great-aunt.

Kamila started writing at the age of 11, and hasn't ever really stopped. Since graduating from UMass (1998) she has been dividing her time between London and Karachi, though she is presently teaching Creative Writing at Hamilton College in New York state.

Praise for Salt & Saffron:
'Beautifully written in cunning, punning, glancing prose, this book provides some delicious recipes for living and loving' - The Independent, UK ___________________________________________________________________

KAMILA & FRIENDS: Author Kamila Shamsie (in red), on the set of "Asian America" a nationally televised program on public television, discussing South Asian writing with moderator Sreenath Sreenivasan; author Akhil Sharma; and Viking editor Beena Kamlani