On this week’s episode, I’m speaking to Saima Mir, journalist and crime novelist, author of The Khan, and its sequel, Vengeance.

In her books, Saima introduces us to Jia Khan. A successful lawyer, her London life is a long way from the grubby Northern streets she knew as a child, where her father headed up the Pakistani community and ran the local organised crime syndicate. Often his Jirga rule - the old way - was violent and bloody, but it was always justice of a kind.

In her books, Saima explores morality, humanity, family, kinship, community, patriarchy and the unfair expectations placed on women. She explores what people are forced to do to survive, and the grey lines between right and wrong.

Saima Mir is an award-winning journalist and writer. She has written for The Guardian, The Times, The Independent and The Daily Telegraph, and worked for the BBC.

Her work appeared in the anthology, It’s Not About the Burqa in 2019, and The Best Most Awful Job in 2020. Her novel The Khan is being published by Point Blank and is due on in January 2021. The Khan has been optioned by BBC Studios.

Saima is a recipient of The Commonwealth Broadcast Association World View Award, and The K Blundell Trust Award. Saima’s work has been longlisted for The SI Leeds Literary Prize, and The Bath Novel Award.

Her screenplay Ruby & Matt has been optioned by Rendition Films

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