Name: Sameen Rashid Khan
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Short Stories, Poetry
Popular Books: A for Ambiguity, Mostly Me, The Aftermath: A Suicide Story
Sameen Rashid Khan is one of those versatile authors who can handle any genre effectively. And this is only because of her talent that all three books she has written thus far are different from each other. One is a novel, another a poetry collection and the other one is a collection of short stories. A counsellor by practice, Sameen’s writings are mostly the reflection of her own thoughts and experiences. In this article, I will discuss Sameen Rashid Khan’s writing, her publications and also assess her overall impression as an author.
Early Life:
Sameen was inspired to read books by seeing her parents interest in it. Both, her father and mother, are into reading books and Sameen grew as an avid reader. Her family is full of readers and so, she had been busy reading books through her early years and thereafter. Eventually, as it happens in most of the cases with people with extraordinary creative talent, Sameen was drawn to writing and she began writing her first novel when she was just 12. The novel, however, could not be finished at that time and she is still working to give it finishing touches. Nevertheless, this maiden attempt to write gave her an inspiration and her explorations in prose and poetry moved on. I will briefly comment on her writing style, books and philosophy in the next section.
Her Writings:
About her writings, Sameen says:
“I knew I wanted to write stories – fiction yet real; and that is how I forayed into the realistic fiction genre. “
When you read her books, you can easily align with the fact that at the core of her literature, realism and personal experiences are there. Thus far, she has published three books and all of them, more or less, are directly the results of her personal gains, losses, acquaintances and experiences overall. She uses fictional cover merely as a mask to give her realism a base to propagate. And this is, indeed, brave as well as innovative. Her maiden publication, The Aftermath: A Suicide Story, is a novel based upon a teenager’s journey in life after her best friend’s tragic suicide. The novel has been written in a way that it communicates with the readers rather than engulfing them into a mere narrative. Likewise, her second and third publications, A for Ambiguity, a short stories collection and Mostly Me, a collection of poems, communicate to the readers Samreen’s learnings, observations and experiences in life.
“For me, personally, writing is living. It is the one time when I feel the most alive. The most beautiful experience I’ve ever had, writing, is like a breath of fresh air. It is also my favourite form of expression and communication.”
Taking the writing passion to another level, Sameen is the writer of the new age, an age when writing has become more than social sermons. It is more a form of communication with the masses. And that is why she has kept the characters in her fiction pieces to a level that can compare with commoners of the day so that it can help the readers relate not only with the story but also with the characters.
A for Ambiguity by her takes the level of riddles to a literary height and the readers are given 5 challenges, in the form of 5 short stories, to answer. She has offered the book as a challenge to the modern readers of short stories. Unlike this, her collection of poetry, Mostly Me, is more about her experiences at different phases of life. It presents the journey of a person from despair to hope and through various tunnels of emotions of many colours. Relatable and communicating, the poetry writing skill of Sameen is worth a look.
To sum up the section, Sameen’s contribution in the future is going to be very fruitful for Indian English literature.
Major Books:
- The Aftermath: A Suicide Story (Novel)
- A for Ambiguity (Short Stories collection)
- Mostly Me (Poetry collection)
The author is currently working on her book which is based upon the experiences of women in rehabilitation centres in India.
Conclusion:
Though Sameen Rashid Khan is relatively new in the writing industry, she has displayed her talents in different genres. Her novel represents serious issues loaded in a fictionalised but more realistic narrative confirms that her writing means a motive unlike most of the beginners who look for an easy entry into the gloriously widening writing industry in India following the easy footprints left behind by Chetan Bhagat and Nikita Singh like authors. You can read all her books by getting their Kindle copies from Amazon India.
Click here to buy Sameen’s books from Amazon India
Explore more about Sameen:
Read Interview: Sameen Rashid Khan Interview, Author Interviews
Official Website: https://www.sameenrashidkhan.com/
Article by a contributor to The Indian Authors
