Saladin Ahmed

Saladin Ahmed (born October 4, 1975) is an Arab-American science fiction and fantasy writer and poet. His 2012 book Throne of the Crescent Moon was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel^[1] and won the Locus Award for Best First Novel.^[2] He has also been a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award, the Nebula Award for Best Novel^[3] and the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. Ahmed's fiction has been published in anthologies and magazines including Strange Horizons, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, Clockwork Phoenix 2 and Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

Early life and education

Ahmed was born in 1975 in Detroit, Michigan to parents of Lebanese, Egyptian, Irish, and Polish descent.^[4] His father Ismael Ahmed, formerly in the merchant marine, worked both in a factory and as a community organizer. His mother was a political activist.

After graduating from high school, Ahmed attended Henry Ford Community College before transferring to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.^[4] After receiving a B.A. in American Studies, Ahmed earned an MFA at Brooklyn College and an MA in English from Rutgers University.

Career

Writings

Ahmed's science fiction and fantasy stories have been published in magazines and anthologies including Strange Horizons, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, Clockwork Phoenix 2, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. In 2010, he was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.^[5]

Ahmed's story "Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela", originally published in Clockwork Phoenix 2, was a finalist for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story.^[6] His story "Where Virtue Lives", originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, was a finalist for the 2009 Harper's Pen Award.

His novel trilogy The Crescent Moon Kingdoms is currently being published by DAW Books.^[7] The novels are fantasies inspired by One Thousand and One Nights.^[8] The first book in the series, Throne of the Crescent Moon, was published by DAW Books in February 2012.^[9][10]

Ahmed's poetry has been published in various literary journals and books and has been awarded fellowships from the University of Michigan, Brooklyn College, and the Bronx Council on the Arts.

Awards

Throne of the Crescent Moon was a finalist for both the 2012 Nebula Award for Best Novel^[3] and the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel.^[1] Ahmed won the Locus Award for Best First Novel for the novel.^[2]

He was also a finalist for the 2010 and 2011 John W. Campbell Award and the 2009 Nebula Award for Best Short Story.

Works

Novels

• Throne of the Crescent Moon (DAW Books, 2012)

Collections

• Engraved on the Eye (Ridan Publishing, 2012)

Short stories

• "Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy" - Rags & Bones, ed. By Melissa Marr, Tim Pratt (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Oct 2013)
• "Amethyst, Shadow, and Light" - Fearsome Journeys, ed. Jonathan Strahan (Solaris, May 2013)
• "The Faithful Soldier, Prompted" - Apex Magazine 18, Nov 2010

podcast by StarShipSofa

• "Mister Hadj's Sunset Ride" - Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 2010
• "General Akmed's Revenge?" - Expanded Horizons 16, Mar 2010
• "Doctor Diablo Goes Through The Motions" - Strange Horizons, Feb 2010

podcast by DrabbleCast

• "Judgment of Swords and Souls" - Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show
• "Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela" - Clockwork Phoenix 2, ed. by Mike Allen (Norilana Books, Jul 2009)

Finalist for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story

podcast by PodCastle

• "Where Virtue Lives - Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Apr 2009

Finalist for the 2009 Harper’s Pen Award.

Poetry

Ahmed's poetry has appeared in the following journals and anthologies:

• Callaloo Volume 32, Issue 4 (2009)
• Against Agamemnon: War Poetry (WaterWood Press 2009)
• Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry (University of Arkansas Press 2008)
• Margie: The American Journal of Poetry Volume 6 (2007)
• We Begin Here: Poems for Palestine and Lebanon (Interlink Books 2007)
• The Brooklyn Review #19 (2002)
• The Brooklyn Review #18 (2001)
• Big City Lit (2001)
• Mizna Volume 3, Issue 1 (2001)
• Abandon Automobile: Detroit City Poetry (Wayne State University Press 2001)
• Post Gibran: Anthology of New Arab American Writing' (Kitab/Syracuse University Press 2000)
• Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream (Wayne State University Press 2000)

Personal life

In 2007, Ahmed married Hayley Thompson. They had twins in 2010 and lived in Brooklyn at the end of that year.^[4] As of August 2013, they live in Huntington Woods, Michigan as Thompson is associate professor of oncology for the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Population Studies and Disparities Research Program at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute.

References

External links

• Official website
• Saladin Ahmed at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Interview with Saladin Ahmed
• Saladin Ahmed at Library of Congress Authorities, with 1 catalog records