Ameena Hussein

Ameena Hussein was trained as a sociologist and is a publisher and fiction writer. She worked for a number of years at the International Centre of Ethnic Studies, Colombo where she produced a report Sometimes there is no Blood that described the ground breaking research on violence against women in rural areas. She is the co-founder of the Perera Hussein Publishing House, that was established in 2003 to enable and encourage talented South Asian fiction writers to gain exposure and recognition. In 2005 she attended the prestigious International Writers Program conducted by the University of Iowa. She was the editor of Nethra from 2004-2007. She lives in Sri Lanka.

Bibliography



The Moon In the Water
Perera Hussein Publishing House, Colombo, Sri Lanka (2010)

Long-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize, The Moon in the Water is a story of a young woman?s search for family. An unexpectedly revealed secret threatens to destroy her very identity, family bonds and reveal complicated threads of love. Khadeeja Rasheed has the perfect life in far away Geneva. A loving family, a fulfilling career and an adoring boyfriend. When her father is accidentally killed in a bomb blast she returns home to Sri Lanka. There she discovers a secret that threatens to destroy family bonds and reveal complicated threads of love, loyalty and betrayal. The Moon in the Water brings a young women's search for recognition and family vividly to life. In this story of deep desires, identity and passion, Ameena Hussein draws a dramatic portrait of loss, bewildering love and possible forgiveness.

Excerpt

Review at wordpress.com

Review in the Lanka Daily News

Review in the Lanka Sunday Leader

Review in the Lanka Sunday Times

Zillij
Perera Hussein Publishing House. (2003)

A collection of short stories that explores the themes of identity and changing worlds. You are a storyteller, so tell me a story, a Ugandan judge commands a young misfit who obliges with an enchanting tale of wonder and fantasy. Moving from the humid tropics of Sri Lanka through the arid deserts of Morocco to the cold winters of Switzerland, Hussein's second collection of stories captures the richness of the South Asian experience and range in theme from an immigrant's disillusionment in New York to a mysterious encounter in Morocco. It is a provocative collection opulently imagined and stirringly told. Zillij won the State LIterary Award in 2005.

Review at lakbooks

Review at the Iowa Daily Palette

Fifteen
Hussein Publishing House, Colombo (1999)

Ameena Hussein's first collection of short stories which was short listed for the Graetien Prize in 1999 deals with sexuality, emotion, love, and disillusion in a style that is raw, stark and sometimes brutal. The stories address life from a Sri Lankan woman's perspective. Always questioning, almost never yielding. A frank, yet tender exploration of learning to live life on her own terms, reveals dilemmas and emotions framed in descriptive language, that enchant while exposing life's hidden costs.

South Asian Women authors
Sawnet Bookshelf
Sawnet