Claire Chambers - British Muslim Fictions: Interviews with Contemporary Writers

Claire Chambers 2011

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First published 2011 by
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For Joash and Derry

I could not have written this book without the financial, intellectual, and emotional support of many institutions and people. Financially, I am indebted to HEFCEs Promising Researcher Fellowship, the British Academys Small Grants, and the Arts and Humanities Research Boards Early Career Fellowships for providing funding for the sabbaticals and resources which made it possible to undertake this research. I thank them for their generous support.

I am very grateful to colleagues and former colleagues at the School of Cultural Studies at Leeds Metropolitan University (especially Ruth Robbins, Caroline Herbert, Mary Eagleton, Christer Petley, Kristyn Gorton, Rachel Farebrother, Babita Bhogal, Melanie Chan, Lisa Taylor, Emily Marshall, Rachel Rich, and Kenyetta Cohen), for their academic and administrative support, help with funding applications, and, above all, their advice on general and scholarly matters. Sections from the introduction have appeared in an earlier form in my article, A Comparative Approach to Pakistani Fiction in English, Journal of Postcolonial Writing 47(2) (April 2011): 12234. The interview with Leila Aboulela was first published as An Interview with Leila Aboulela, Contemporary Womens Writing 3(1) (2009): 86102. Thanks to the editors of these periodicals for helping me develop my ideas in print.

Intellectually, I have too many debts even to begin to repay. The book would not have been possible without the enthusiastic participation of the thirteen authors interviewed here. They deserve my thanks for the fiction, nonfiction, conversations, political insights, and innumerable kindnesses. I would also like to thank the writers Bina Shah, Tabish Khair, and John Siddique for their friendship and patient proofreading.

Bart Mooregilbert provided advice and a welcome research base at Goldsmiths College in the early stages of the project. James McGrath, James Dodge, and Gareth Bell helped me with invaluable transcription and other work. Warm thanks go to Sameena Choudry of Education Leeds for working with me on the education project described in the Introduction, and for sharing her wide knowledge of South Asian writing. I am very grateful to Nukhbah Langah, Muneeza Shamsie, and Shadab Zeest Hashmi for their friendship and intellectual insights in Pakistan, cyberspace, and elsewhere. Of the community groups Ive worked with, thanks go to Zahid Hussain (again) of Man chester Muslim Writers; Irfan Akram of Muslim Writers Awards; and Waqas Tufail and Nasreen Mansoor of Greater Manchester Diversity Researchers Forum (GMDRF), University of Manchester.

I have also received great intellectual and emotional support from my academic friends. Of these, five deserve special mention. My thinking about this book has greatly benefited from lively discussions with Peter Morey, Amina Yaqin, Anshuman Mondal, and Stephen Morton. Most importantly, I doubt I would have been able to cope with the pressures of juggling teaching with research, had it not been for Susan Watkinss friendship, collegiality, and sense of proportion.

The most heartfelt thanks go to Rob, Joash, Derry, Susan, and Richard. I benefit so much from your belief in me and unconditional love and support. I hope the finished book is worth all the benign neglect (dont worry: you dont have to read it!).

British Muslim Fictions is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

This book of interviews with writers of Muslim heritage is the first in a two-book project, to be followed by a monograph on artistic representations of British Muslims, 1966present. In terms of the selection criteria for this book, the interviewed writers are resident in the UK, of Muslim heritage, and have produced literary fiction in English widely considered to be high quality and influential. The second book focuses on representations of Muslims by writers who are often, but not necessarily, of Muslim heritage. Both books analyse the term Muslim writing, which has recently come into currency, in order to complicate and contest it.

There has long existed high demand for author interviews as resources to supplementing understanding of contemporary literature. Three recent volumes of interviews illustrate this point: Susheila Nastas edited volume Writing Across Worlds which contains interviews with writers broadly considered postcolonial; However, my book differs from these collections, given its exclusive focus on writers with Muslim backgrounds in Britain and beyond. This is important because their excellent writing, while rarely discussed in relation to religious identities, is increasingly gaining recognition from critics, literary prize boards, and research students. The volume is also distinct from the first two in that all interviews are conducted by me as the single researcher.