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2025 PANEL OF JUDGES

Uzma Aslam Khan

Novelist

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Uzma Aslam Khan is the prize-winning author of five novels published worldwide. Her most recent book The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali (2022) was included in The New York Times' list for Best Historical Fiction 2022 as well as in their Books for Summer 2022. It won several literary awards including the Massachusetts Book Award (Fiction) 2023. Her previous novels include the highly acclaimed Trespassing (2003) a Commonwealth Prize nominee, The Geometry of God (2009) a Kirkus Reviews’ Best Book, and Thinner Than Skin (2012) nominated for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2012 and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2014. Her writing has appeared in Granta, Massachusetts Review, Australian Book Review, Nimrod, AGNI, Calyx, The Guardian, and Dawn.

Ailah Ahmed

Publishing Director

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Ailah Ahmed is Publishing Director at Hutchinson Heinemann, Penguin Random House UK where she publishes literary fiction and book club titles by authors like Chigozie Obioma and Lauren Goff who have been shortlisted for major prizes and have hit the Sunday Times bestsellers list. Forthcoming publications include We Are Not Numbers: The Voices of Gaza’s Youth edited by Ahmed Alnaouq and Pam Bailey, a collection of essays charting the daily lives, struggles, and dreams of young Gazans spanning a 10-year period from 2014 to 2024.

Omar Shahid Hamid

Novelist and Police Officer

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Omar Shahid Hamid is an award-winning novelist from Karachi.  Known for his gritty crime thrillers, he is the author of 6 acclaimed novels. The Prisoner (2013) proved to be a huge critical and commercial success and is being adapted for a screenplay by Netflix. Other novels include The Spinner’s Tale (2015), The Party Worker (2017), The Fix (2019), Betrayal (2021), and The Election (2024). His work has won several literary prizes and has been translated into French, Italian, German and Urdu. In addition to his writing career, he has served as a senior counter terrorism police officer who, in between writing books, has survived several attempts on his life and had his offices blown up by the Taliban.

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