# Sameer Rahim

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sameer_Rahim
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sameer_Rahim.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sameer_Rahim
> Source revision: 1163919659
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|British journalist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Sameer Rahim''' is a British literary journalist and novelist. He became Managing Editor (Arts and Books) at ''[Prospect](/source/Prospect_(magazine))'' magazine,<ref>[https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/author/sameer-rahim ''Prospect Magazine''] website.</ref> having previously worked at the ''[London Review of Books](/source/London_Review_of_Books)'' and at ''[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)'', and his reviews of both fiction and non-fiction have featured regularly in other publications. Also an essayist,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://unbound.com/boundless/2019/11/13/learning-to-speak-islam/|title=Learning to speak Islam|first=Sameer|last=Rahim|website=Boundless|date=13 November 2019}}</ref> he was a winner of the William Hazlitt Essay Prize 2013 for "The Shadow of the Scroll: Reconstructing Islam's Origins".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nottinghilleditions.com/product/william-hazlitt-essay-prize-2013-the-winners/|title=William Hazlitt Essay Prize 2013: The Wiinners|publisher=Notting Hill Editions}}</ref> Rahim's critical writing includes pieces on [V. S. Naipaul](/source/V._S._Naipaul), [Kazuo Ishiguro](/source/Kazuo_Ishiguro), [Clive James](/source/Clive_James) and [Geoffrey Hill](/source/Geoffrey_Hill).<ref name = "Booker" >{{cite web|url=https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/judges/sameer-rahim|title=Sameer Rahim {{!}} 2020 Booker Prize Judge|publisher=The Booker Prizes|access-date=27 October 2022}}</ref>

==Career==
After studying English at [Pembroke College, Cambridge](/source/Pembroke_College%2C_Cambridge), where he edited the student newspaper,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.yorksj.ac.uk/creativewriting/2017/03/10/an-evening-with-sameer-rahim-of-prospect-magazine/|title=An Evening with Sameer Rahim of Prospect Magazine|website=Where Ideas Grow|publisher=York St John University|date=10 March 2017}}</ref> Rahim worked as a teacher before focusing on a career in literary journalism.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ymwa.org.uk/museum-of-awards/museum-of-awards-mwa-2011/|title=Museum of Awards MWA – 2011|website=ymwa.org.uk}}</ref> He began his career with the ''[London Review of Books](/source/London_Review_of_Books)'' in 2005, going on to work on the Books Desk at the ''[Daily Telegraph](/source/Daily_Telegraph)'' and then ''[Prospect Magazine](/source/Prospect_Magazine)'', where he was Arts and Books Editor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.maslaha.org/Trustees/Sameer-Rahim|title=Meet the Trustees: Sameer Rahim|website=Maslaha}}</ref> In 2022, it was announced that in November Rahim would be joining The Bridge Street Press, an imprint of [Little, Brown](/source/Little%2C_Brown), as publisher.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/books-journalist-rahim-appointed-publisher-at-the-bridge-street-press|title=Books journalist Rahim appointed publisher at The Bridge Street Press|first=Luren|last=Brown|magazine=[The Bookseller](/source/The_Bookseller)|date=15 September 2022|access-date=27 October 2022}}</ref>

He is the author of the 2019 novel ''Asghar and Zahra'', published by [John Murray](/source/John_Murray_Publishers).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/two-fresh-titles-jm-originals-list-975261|title=John Murray snaps up debuts from Fagan and Rahim|work=The Bookseller|first=Mark|last=Chandler|date=25 March 2019}}</ref> The ''[New Statesman](/source/New_Statesman)'' called the book "sparkling ... a novel of charm and compassion",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2019/06/sameer-rahim-s-asghar-and-zahra-sparkling-comedy-muslim-manners|title=Sameer Rahim's Asghar and Zahra: a sparkling comedy of Muslim manners|first=Catherine|last=Taylor|work=New Statesman|date=27 June 2019}}</ref> and it was described in ''[The Guardian](/source/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",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/28/asghar-and-zahra-sameer-rahim-review|title=Asghar and Zahra by Sameer Rahim review – a tender, clear-eyed portrait|first=Alice|last=O'Keeffe|newspaper=The Guardian|date=28 June 2020}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/asghar-zahra-sameer-rahim-review-unmaking-islamic-marriage/|title=Asghar and Zahra by Sameer Rahim, review: the unmaking of an Islamic marriage|first=Sophie |last=Ratcliffe|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=3 July 2019}}</ref> Other positive reviews appeared in the ''[TLS](/source/Times_Literary_Supplement)'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/loyalty-vs-passion/|title=Loyalty vs passion: The demands of Western love and Eastern tradition|first=Azadeh|last=Moaveni|author-link=Azadeh Moaveni|work=TLS|date=5 July 2019}}</ref> the ''[Literary Review](/source/Literary_Review)'',<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://literaryreview.co.uk/starting-points|title=Starting Points|first=Michael|last=Delgado|journal=Literary Review|date=July 2019}}</ref> with Rahim being compared to [Ian McEwan](/source/Ian_McEwan) and ''Asghar and Zahra'' being singled out by [Colm Tóibín](/source/Colm_T%C3%B3ib%C3%ADn) as one of the books of the year.<ref name = "Booker" />

Rahim has served as a judge for literary awards including the [Forward Prize for Poetry](/source/Forward_Prize_for_Poetry),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/poetryandplaybookreviews/8811845/Judging-the-Forward-Prize.html|title=Judging the Forward Prize|first=Sameer|last=Rahim|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=7 October 2011}}</ref> the [Orwell Prize for Political Writing](/source/Orwell_Prize_for_Political_Writing)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.orwellfoundation.com/book-title/the-beautiful-and-the-damned-life-in-the-new-india/|title=2012 Book Prize Short List|publisher=Orwell Foundation}}</ref> and the [Costa Poetry Award](/source/Costa_Poetry_Award),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://poetrysociety.org.uk/news/2018costa/|title=Shortlist, 2018 Costa Poetry Award|publisher=[Poetry Society](/source/Poetry_Society)|date=23 November 2018}}</ref> most recently being selected for the 2020 [Booker Prize](/source/Booker_Prize) jury alongside [Margaret Busby](/source/Margaret_Busby), [Lee Child](/source/Lee_Child), [Lemn Sissay](/source/Lemn_Sissay) and [Emily Wilson](/source/Emily_Wilson_(classicist)).<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.thebookseller.com/news/lee-child-busby-and-sissay-join-2020-booker-prize-judges-1147391|title= Child, Busby and Sissay join 2020 Booker Prize judging panel|last=Chandler|first=Mark|work=The Bookseller|date=7 January 2020|access-date=26 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/sep/15/judging-the-booker-prize-these-books-are-about-living-under-intense-pressure|title=Judging the Booker prize: 'These books are about living under intense pressure'|first=Sameer|last=Rahim|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/eyes-on-the-prize-my-year-as-a-booker-judge-shuggie-bain|title=Eyes on the prize: my year as a Booker judge|first=Sameer|last=Rahim|magazine=Prospect|date=29 November 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/57-sameer-rahim/id1326888108?i=1000463958718 #57 Sameer Rahim], ''The Sacred Podcast''.
* [https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/author/sameer-rahim Sameer Rahim articles] at ''Prospect'' magazine.

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahim, Sameer}}
Category:Living people
Category:21st-century British novelists
Category:21st-century British essayists
Category:21st-century male writers
Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge
Category:British male journalists
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sameer Rahim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sameer_Rahim) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sameer_Rahim?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.