Dur e Aziz Amna
Raised in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Dur e Aziz Amna's writing is inspired by her cross-cultural experiences in South Asia and the U.S. She is the author of the debut novel American Fever, named one of the Must Read Books of 2022 by Harper’s Bazaar and a Most Anticipated Books of 2022 by Bustle. In its starred advance review, Kirkus called it “a funny and affecting novel, a wonderful new spin on the coming-of-age story," from the fresh perspective of a Pakistani Muslim in rural America. Bestselling author Fatima Farheen Mirza, author of the New York Times bestseller A Place for Us, hailed Amna’s “brilliant new voice.” American Fever was named a Best Book by The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, Bustle, Vogue India, and The Millions, which called it "as propulsive as it lyrical, hilarious as it is sobering -- above all an irresistible read." Her new novel, A Splintering, set in Pakistan, will be published in 2025.
Amna was selected as a Forbes 30 under 30 in 2022, and she was awarded the 2019 FinancialTimes / Bodley Head Essay Prize, the London Magazine Short Story prize, the 2021 Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction, and 2023 Award for Literature from the APALA (Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance). Her work has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, Al Jazeera, and Dawn, the largest and oldest English language newspaper in Pakistan and the country’s newspaper of record. A graduate of Yale University, Dur e Aziz Amna received her MFA in creative writing from the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan. She now lives in Newark, NJ.
