birth_date: 1931-06-01 00:00:00
avg_rating: 3.52
name: Jamil Ahmad
about: Jamil Ahmad was one of the few English writers of Pakistani origin to have garnered attention outside his country. Though his body of work was small and limited to one book, the Wandering Falcon and a short story, The Sins of the Mother, he is considered as a major writer among Pakistani writers of English fiction.Jamil Ahmad was born in Punjab, in the erstwhile undivided India, in 1931. After early education in Lahore, he joined the civil service in 1954,and worked in the Swat valley, a remote Hindu Kush area, near Afghan border. During his career, he worked at various remote areas such as the Frontier Province, Quetta, Chaghi, Khyber and Malakand. He served for two decades among the nomadic tribes who inhabit one of the world’s harshest a Jamil Ahmad was one of the few English writers of Pakistani origin to have garnered attention outside his country. Though his body of work was small and limited to one book, the Wandering Falcon and a short story, The Sins of the Mother, he is considered as a major writer among Pakistani writers of English fiction.Jamil Ahmad was born in Punjab, in the erstwhile undivided India, in 1931. After early education in Lahore, he joined the civil service in 1954,and worked in the Swat valley, a remote Hindu Kush area, near Afghan border. During his career, he worked at various remote areas such as the Frontier Province, Quetta, Chaghi, Khyber and Malakand. He served for two decades among the nomadic tribes who inhabit one of the world’s harshest and most geopolitically sensitive regions. With his mesmerizing and lyrical tales, Ahmad illuminated the tribes’ fascinating attitudes and taboos, their ancient customs and traditions, and their fiercely held codes of honor. He also served as the a minister at the Paksitani embassy in Kabul during the Sovient invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.He married Helga whom he met during his London years, who was critical of his early attempts at poetry but diligently tried to promote his work. She painstakingly typed his handwritten manuscript on a typewriter with German keys. The Wandering Falcon, published when he was 79, was nominated for Man Asian Prize in 2011. He lived in Islamabad, Pakistan at the time of his death. ...more
death_date: 2014-07-14 00:00:00