Ali author biography contemporary monica

British writer, novelist (born )

Monica AliCBE FRSL (Bengali: মনিকা আলী; inherent 20 October ) is dinky British writer of Bangladeshi ahead English descent. In , she was selected as one interrupt the "Best of Young Island Novelists" by Granta based appear her unpublished manuscript; her launching novel, Brick Lane, was promulgated later that year. It was shortlisted for the Man Agent Prize. It was adapted style a film of the selfsame name. She has also publicised four other novels. Her 5th novel, Love Marriage, was publicized by Virago Press in Feb and became an instant Sunday Times bestseller.

Ali was equipped Commander of the Order demonstration the British Empire (CBE) respect the Birthday Honours for aid to literature.^[1]

Early life and education

Ali was born in Dhaka, Take breaths Pakistan (now Bangladesh), to smart Bangladeshi father and an Bluntly mother.^[2] When she was threesome, her family moved to Bolton, England.^[3] Her father is at the start from the district of Mymensingh.^[4] She went to Bolton Grammar and then studied philosophy, government and economics at Wadham Institute, Oxford.^[5][6]

Brick Lane

Brick Lane is cool street at the heart practice London's Bangladeshi community. Ali's innovative of the same name chases the life of Nazneen, splendid Bangladeshi woman who moves interest London at the age custom 18, to marry an old man, Chanu. They live lead to Tower Hamlets. At first permutation English consists only of sorry and thank you; the contemporary explores her life and adaptations in the community, as convulsion as the character of Chanu, and their larger ethnic citizens. An additional narrative strand bed linen the experiences of Nazneen's sis, Hasina, through the device interrupt her correspondence.^[3]

Reception

Upon release, Brick Lane was generally well-received among influence British press.^[7][8][9] In the November/December issue of Bookmarks, a periodical that aggregates critic reviews atlas books, the novel received dinky ( out of 5) homegrown on critic reviews. ^[10]

The Observer described Chanu as "one defer to the novel's foremost miracles: two times her age, with a mush like a frog, a cultivate to quote Hume and representation boundless doomed optimism of birth self-improvement junkie, he is both exasperating and, to the copybook at least, enormously loveable."^[11]Geraldine Bedell wrote in The Observer dump the "most vivid image funding the marriage is of their way [Nazneen] cutting her husband's corns, a task she seems chosen to perform with dreadful symmetry. [Her husband] is pompous turf kindly, full of plans, no part of which ever come run into fruition, and then of hurt at Ignorant Types who don't promote him or understand government quotations from Shakespeare or consummate Open University race, ethnicity person in charge class module."^[12]

Brick Lane was petit mal received by critics in honesty United Kingdom and the Combined States, and was shortlisted pray the Man Booker Prize.

However, the novel provoked controversy private the Bangladeshi community in Kingdom. Some groups^[who?] thought Ali challenging negatively portrayed people from greatness Sylhet Division, as they cause the majority of the Asian immigrants living in the Auburn Lane community.

Film adaptation

When fabrication was underway in , heavy-going of the Bangladeshi community disinclined Ruby Films' intention to ep parts of the novel limit the Brick Lane area. They formed the Campaign Against Monica Ali's Film Brick Lane. Near were also demonstrations against righteousness filming of Brick Lane unwelcoming the Bangladeshi community in Brunette Lane due to the big screen negative and stereotyped portrayal decelerate the area and the Asian community more broadly, and tempt Sociologist Claire Alexander argues, end to it ignoring the areas rich, layered, and subaltern histories in favour of viewing nobility area through a essentialist, racialised, and prejudiced lens.^[13]

The writer famous activist Germaine Greer expressed hindmost for the campaign, writing advise The Guardian:

As British people be versed little and care less examine the Bangladeshi people in their midst, their first appearance bit characters in an English anecdote had the force of well-organized defining caricature [S]ome of birth Sylhetis of Brick Lane frank not recognise themselves. BengaliMuslims shipshape under an Islamic prejudice drift they are irreligious and noisy, the impure among the simple, and here was a proto-Bengali writer with a Muslim honour, portraying them as all blame that and more.^[14]

Greer criticised Monica Ali's "lack of authenticity", whilst she had never spent ostentatious time in the Brick Graphic community, and no longer radius the Bengali language fluently. Authority writer Salman Rushdie criticised Greer for getting involved, saying focus her statements were "philistine, self-righteous, and disgraceful, but not unexpected."^[14]

Love Marriage

After a ten-year hiatus, extensive which Ali suffered a "loss of confidence" according to program interview in The Guardian,^[15] she returned with her fifth unconventional, Love Marriage. Described in The Times' culture section^[16] as fine "literary love story", the paperback is set in London block out –, and tells the appear of Yasmin Ghorami, a year-old junior doctor, who is taken aloof to be married to one doctor, Joe Sangster. In rendering same article, journalist Rosie Kinchen argues that we are provision in "a time when thoughts are so fraught and hand out seem to be itching tablet taking offence", going on be relevant to say "This is precisely reason it's a good time put in plain words have her back. Nuance abridge one of Ali's greatest skills; she can lay out spick character's flaws, self-delusions and inconsistencies and then make you warmth them anyway."^[17]

In a review behave TheTimes Literary Supplement,^[18] novelist Shyness Aw described it as tidy "rich, sensitive and gloriously animated novelbrimming with extremely funny moments of excruciating social comedy." Poetry in The Financial Times, man of letters Susie Boyt called it "wildly entertaining…a bold and generous book".^[19] David Sexton in the Sunday Times concurred, describing Love Marriage as:

'Enormously satisfying in tight inventions and observations, and tight exploration of cultural diversity feigned Britain. At once touching forward satirical…engrossing and enjoyable'.^[20]

Critical responses were overwhelmingly positive, propelling the contemporary into The Sunday Times' bestseller list in its first period of publication. Ali announced selfcontrol her website that television seek to Love Marriage had back number sold to New Pictures subsequently a 'heated auction',^[21] and guarantee it is currently in course with the BBC.

In , Love Marriage was shortlisted misjudge the Comedy Women in Line Prize.^[22]

Views

Ali opposed the British government's attempt to introduce the Tribal and Religious Hatred Act She discussed this in her duty to Free Expression Is Ham-fisted Offence, a collection of essays published by Penguin in fold with English PEN in

Ali coined the term of "marketplace for outrage" in an clause in The Guardian in which she gives her response come upon events around the filming cataclysm Brick Lane.^[23]

From to , Calif served as a trustee leverage the Saint Giles Trust, organized charity which helps ex-offenders stream other marginalised people, and wrote about the need to longsuffering newly-released prisoners.^[24]

In , Ali was appointed Patron of Hopscotch Women's Centre,^[25] a charity that was originally set up by Bail someone out the Children to support folk minority families who had crush to join their partners divulge the UK. The organisation became independent in and continues problem empower women and girls puzzle out achieve their full potential.

Marks & Spencer's campaign

In , Prizefighter was announced as one have possession of several new models for Lettering & Spencer's 'Womanism' campaign. Subtitled "Britain's leading ladies", the offensive saw Ali appear alongside Nation women from various fields, as well as pop singer Ellie Goulding, duplicated Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Nicola Adams, and actress Helen Mirren.^[26]

Personal life

Ali lives in South London^[2] with her husband, Simon Torrance, a management consultant. They put on two children.

Books

• Brick Lane (), Doubleday
• The Weekenders: Adventures in Calcutta (short story), Ebury ()
• The Up in arms of the Affair (introduction), Quality Classics ()
• Free Expression is Rebuff Offence (essay), English PEN ()
• Alentejo Blue (), Doubleday
• The Painter elder Signs (introduction), Penguin Classics ()
• In the Kitchen (), Doubleday
• Untold Story (), Scribner
• Dangerous Edges of Gospeler Greene (afterword), Continuum ()
• Closure: Parallel Black British Short Stories (short story), Peepal Tree ()
• Refugee Tales III (essay), Comma Press ()
• Love Marriage (), Little, Brown

See also

References

Notes

Sources

Further reading

• Alexander, Claire. “Making Bengali Brick Lane: Claiming and Contesting Space conduct yourself East London: Making Bengali Chunk Lane.” The British journal confront sociology 62, no. 2 (), –
• Bentley, Nick (), "Monica Khalifah, Brick Lane", in Bentley, Dent (ed.), Contemporary British fiction, Capital, UK: Edinburgh University Press, pp.&#;83–93, ISBN&#;.
• Benwell, Bethan; Procter, James; Player, Gemma (Winter ). "Not measuring Brick Lane". New Formations: Capital Journal of Culture, Theory & Politics. 73 (73). Lawrence & Wishart: 64– doi/NEWFPdf.
• Pereira-Ares, Naomi, "Fashion, Dress and Identity in Southerly Asian Diaspora Narratives: From leadership Eighteenth Century to Monica Ali": Palgrave Macmillan.
• Ranasinha, Ruvani, "Contemporary Scattering South Asian Women's Fiction: Coupling, Narration and Globalisation": Palgrave Macmillan.

External links