Writing Archives - Kia Abdullah

Read Chapter 1 of Truth Be Told

11th May 20211st March 2021 by Kia

The Hadid family was an effortful one. Even minor occasions and trivial achievements were marked with a rigid persistence. Birthday cards arrived precisely on the … Read more

Take It Back Reader Playlist

19th June 202223rd March 2020 by Kia

I was recently at a literary festival when a fellow author told me he had just finished reading Take It Back. ‘It’s dark,’ he said, … Read more

On the joy of mediocrity

28th May 20231st May 2019 by Kia

Making the case for not going pro “Nobody achieves anything great by being happy and cozy,” says climber Alex Honnold in Free Solo, the Oscar-winning … Read more

Is this thing on?

14th February 201928th May 2018 by Kia

I recently read an interesting article called I Don’t Know How to Waste Time on the Internet Anymore and it resonated strongly. I’ve done the … Read more

Silver tongues

14th February 20191st June 2008 by Kia

I cringe as iPlayer runs through the opening credits of Women in Black Episode 4 (aired Thursday on BBC2). Why? Because 10 minutes or so … Read more

My life and art

14th February 20196th March 2007 by Kia

Almost a year after the release of Life, Love and Assimilation, I am still asked how much of the novel is based on my life. … Read more

Infidel

14th February 201923rd February 2007 by Kia

Yesterday I bought Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel which I plan to read once I get through The Caged Virgin that has sat on my shelf for a … Read more

A life less ordinary

14th February 201927th September 2006 by Kia

Anyone who knows me to some degree of detail will tell you that I don’t do things by half but this past week, I’ve been … Read more

Hi all. Firstly, I just want to apologise for the silence last week. I’ve been crazily busy. Those of you who tuned into the BBC Asian Network interview will know that I’m having to juggle a full-time job (where I’m having to create a web database that does everything but cook you dinner), promoting my first book, writing my second book, salvaging a social life and planning a wedding! It’s enough to make me go all Girl, Interrupted, but I’m managing ok.

The classics

9th February 202431st May 2006 by Kia

Read

Lord of the Flies William Golding
Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
Brave New World Aldous Huxley
One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
Dracula Bram Stoker
Frankenstein Mary Shelley
Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
Catch-22 Joseph Heller
Rebecca Daphne du Maurier