Sameer Rahim

Sameer Rahim is a British literary journalist and novelist. He became Managing Editor (Arts and Books) at Prospect magazine,^[1] having previously worked at the London Review of Books and at The Daily Telegraph , and his reviews of both fiction and non-fiction have featured regularly in other publications. Also an essayist,^[2] he was a winner of the William Hazlitt Essay Prize 2013 for "The Shadow of the Scroll: Reconstructing Islam's Origins".^[3] Rahim's critical writing includes pieces on V. S. Naipaul, Kazuo Ishiguro, Clive James and Geoffrey Hill.^[4]

After studying English at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he edited the student newspaper,^[5] Rahim worked as a teacher before focusing on a career in literary journalism.^[6] He began his career with the London Review of Books in 2005, going on to work on the Books Desk at the Daily Telegraph and then Prospect Magazine , where he was Arts and Books Editor.^[7] In 2022, it was announced that in November Rahim would be joining The Bridge Street Press, an imprint of Little, Brown, as publisher.^[8]

He is the author of the 2019 novel Asghar and Zahra, published by John Murray.^[9] The New Statesman called the book "sparkling ... a novel of charm and compassion",^[10] and it was described in The Guardian as "a tender, pin-sharp portrait of a marriage and a community. ... a wonderful achievement; an invigorating reminder of the power fiction has to challenge lazy stereotypes, and stretch the reader’s heart",^[11] while The Telegraph reviewer concluded: "Elegant, provocative, and clear-eyed, this beautifully pitched novel asks new questions about what imagination means, and what it costs."^[12] Other positive reviews appeared in the TLS ,^[13] the Literary Review ,^[14] with Rahim being compared to Ian McEwan and Asghar and Zahra being singled out by Colm Tóibín as one of the books of the year.^[4]

Rahim has served as a judge for literary awards including the Forward Prize for Poetry,^[15] the Orwell Prize for Political Writing ^[16] and the Costa Poetry Award,^[17] most recently being selected for the 2020 Booker Prize jury alongside Margaret Busby, Lee Child, Lemn Sissay and Emily Wilson.^{[18] [19] [20]}

• #57 Sameer Rahim, The Sacred Podcast.
• Sameer Rahim articles at Prospect magazine.

• Living people
• 21st-century British novelists
• 21st-century British essayists
• 21st-century male writers
• Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge
• British male journalists

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022
• Year of birth missing (living people)