Huma Qureshi

Huma Qureshi

Author

Huma Qureshi is an award-winning writer and journalist, author of In Spite of Oceans (2014), contributor to The Best Most Awful Job: Twenty Writers Talk Honestly About Motherhood (2019) and author of How We Met: A Memoir of Love and Other Misadventures (2020) and Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love (2021). A former Guardian reporter, she has also written for The Times, The Independent and The Observer, as well as magazines including Grazia, New Statesman, Psychologies, gal-dem and The Huffington Post. She is a regular contributor to BBC2’s Pause for Thought and has appeared as a contributor on BBC Woman’s Hour, BBC London, BBC Breakfast and the BBC Asian Network.

Her debut short story collection, Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love was shortlisted for the SI Leeds Literary Prize and longlisted for The Jhalak Prize and The Edge Hill Short Story Prize. The Jam Maker won the 2020 Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Prize and The Wishes came second in the 2019 Benedict Kiely Short Story Award. She is now writing her first novel.

Praise for Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love:

‘A beautiful short-story collection . . . heartbreaking and hopeful.’ ― Red

‘Well told stories with well realised characters . . . Qureshi, like [Jhumpa] Lahiri, is a companionable and considered writer, and this is a collection you can read enjoyably, rain or shine.’ — Shahidha Bari ― Guardian

‘Intimate and incredibly insightful’ ― Stylist

‘A deft, satisfying and poignant collection of stories . . . I loved it.’  – Pandora Sykes 

‘These are stories of fierce clarity and tenderness – I loved them’ – Lucy Caldwell, author of Intimacies

‘Huma Qureshi is a writer I know I’ll be reading for years and years and years’ –  Natasha Lunn, author of Conversations on Love

Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love @@huma_qureshi_uk

Tonight, we're bringing @huma_qureshi_uk back to the Salon for a conversation about the craft of short stories. Come and join our live podcast!
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-art-and-craft-of-short-story-writing-w-huma-qureshi-tickets-217450148247

Gorgeous review in @theipaper: ‘I fell for this lyrical, moving collection & the woozy intensity that infuses many of its stories. Qureshi creates gripping plotlines and vividly drawn characters &- most importantly-she is a writer with something to say.’

https://inews.co.uk/culture/books/things-we-do-not-tell-the-people-we-love-by-huma-qureshi-review-a-luscious-debut-1319624

Hugely enjoyed @huma_qureshi_uk's debut short story collection Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love. Especially the exceptional "Too Much". I want a full novel about Shaheen and Amal, please! 📚
https://inews.co.uk/culture/books/things-we-do-not-tell-the-people-we-love-by-huma-qureshi-review-a-luscious-debut-1319624

A delightful evening last night @BrickLaneBooks listening to the extraordinarily talented @huma_qureshi_uk who took us deeper into her new book, 'Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love' 💖

@huma_qureshi_uk speaking with elegance and sensitivity just like her writing. Expertly chaired by Natasha Lunn, also an author. I needed a lie down with all the talent in the room. 🛌

Get your #Christmas book inspiration @StylistMagazine - too many to mention but please bow down to @thesailorsgirl @ChibunduOnuzo @georgiapudding @BernardineEvari @JaniceHallett @SarahCrossan @rebelgirlsbook @Booktrust @wearereposed and start wrapping...
https://www.stylist.co.uk/books/gift-ideas-for-the-book-lovers-in-your-life/588784

Thank you so much @StylistMagazine @Franabouttown for including Things as ‘unmissable fiction of 2021.’😭 ‘Tender’ + ‘A series of beautifully written short stories examining the pent-up frustrations and the everyday betrayals that even our closest relationships can cause.’ ❤️

Unbelievably delighted that THINGS WE DO NOT TELL THE PEOPLE WE LOVE made The Sunday Times @ST_Culture @TheTimesBooks. “An impressive debut collection” with The Jam Maker “a stand out story.” Wish I’d checked my Twitter yesterday to get a print copy! Another pinch-me moment.

This collection of short stories by @huma_qureshi_uk has taken my breath away. There is sombreness in each story reflecting the silences and unspoken truths btw mothers and daughters, lovers and friends that reveal power imbalances that inevitably underlie intimate relationships.

Such a delight to talk to Natasha for her #ConversationsonLove. Sign up for her email below, and also why not come along and hear us talk in person, next Thursday, 7pm @BrickLaneBooks: book tickets here!https://bricklanebookshop.org/events/

wow, so did not expect any of this. thank you! Just to say if anyone would like to come along, next week I’ll be talking with @Natashalunn @BrickLaneBooks next Thursday night and you can book tickets here but I think they’ve nearly run out so… be quick https://bricklanebookshop.org/events/

so nervous I keep tweeting the wrong thing but so this just happened:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/17/things-we-do-not-tell-the-people-we-love-by-huma-qureshi-review-a-fine-debut?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I wish it didn't take the tears of Azeem Rafiq to make people think or be 'heartbroken'. There will barely be a brown-skinned person in Britain who hasn't felt that smarting, holding back the tears feeling, while being told it was just banter.

I aspire to being an aloof fiction writer but I am not yet so cool, so I was very excited to see Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love in @StylistMagazine. Thank you @Franabouttown for describing it as 'intimate+ incredibly insightful' +me as a 'wonderful writer': made my day!

Looking forward to devouring this! 🥳👏🏽👏🏽 https://twitter.com/huma_qureshi_uk/status/1459917902472220672

It’s so nice to feel so supported by fellow authors ❤️

AND not book post but I was lucky enough to hear @huma_qureshi_uk talk last week about her book at her WTS event, and having LOVED How We Met, I especially can’t wait to read her collection of short stories 💖