{{Short description|Pakistani speculative fiction author}} {{infobox writer | name = Usman T. Malik | image = | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | native_name = عثمان تنویر ملک | native_name_lang = ur | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per WP:DOB. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> | birth_place = Pakistan | occupation = Writer | language = English | nationality = Pakistani | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | genres = {{unbulleted list|Fantasy|Horror}} | notable_works = {{unbulleted list|"The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family"|"The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn"}} | awards = {{unbulleted list|Bram Stoker Award for Short Fiction (2014)|British Fantasy Award (2016)}} | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = 2003-present | website = {{Official URL}} }} '''Usman T. Malik''' is a Pakistani speculative fiction author. His short fiction has been published in magazines and books such as ''The Apex Book of World SF'', ''Nightmare'', ''Strange Horizons'', ''Black Static'', and in a number of "year's best" anthologies. He is the first Pakistani to win the Bram Stoker Award for Short Fiction (2014) and has won the British Fantasy Award (2016). He has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award (2016), nominated again for the Stoker Award (2018), has twice been a finalist for the Nebula Award, and has been nominated for multiple Locus Awards.
== Biography == Malik was born in Pakistan. His story, "The Crimson Storm", was published in ''Thirteen Stories #10'' in 2003. The following year, "The Well That Never Ended" was published in ''Deep Magic #23''. He had two stories published in ''The Crimson Pact'' series edited by Paul Genesse: "A Demon in the Mughal Court" in volume four (2012) and "Hearts in Reverse" in volume five (2013). "Pinned and Wriggling on the Wall" was published on the ''Daily Science Fiction'' site in June 2013.
That same year, he attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop. In 2014, Malik became the first Pakistani to win the Bram Stoker Award for Short Fiction with his story "The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family."<ref name="exptrib 20150512"/><ref name="isfdb stoker 2014"/> That story was also nominated for the Nebula and Locus Awards.<ref name="isfdb nebula 2015"/><ref name="isfdb locus 2015"/> In conjunction with Desi Writers Lounge, he led Pakistan's first speculative fiction writing workshop in Lahore in 2014, which featured Musharraf Ali Farooqi as a guest speaker.<ref name="locus spotlight 201506"/>
His story, "The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn", won the British Fantasy Award for best novella in 2016.<ref name="isfdb bfa 2016"/> The story was also nominated for the Locus, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards.<ref name="isfdb locus 2016"/><ref name="isfdb nebula 2016"/><ref name="isfdb wfa 2016"/> The next year, "In the Ruins of Mohenjo-Daro" was nominated for a Locus Award.<ref name="isfdb locus 2017"/> "The Fortune of Sparrows", published in February 2017 in ''Black Feathers: Dark Avian Tales'' edited by Ellen Datlow, was nominated for a Locus Award.<ref name="isfdb locus 2018"/> Malik was nominated for a Stoker Award for "Dead Lovers on Each Blade, Hung", published in ''Nightmare Magazine'' in 2018.<ref name="isfdb stoker 2018"/>
His short fiction has been published in magazines and books such as ''The Apex Book of World SF'',<ref name="guardian 20150911"/> ''Nightmare Magazine'', ''Strange Horizons'', ''Black Static'', and Tor.com. His stories have also been reprinted in a number of "year's best" anthologies including ''The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror'', ''The Years Best YA Speculative Fiction'', ''The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year'', and the ''Year’s Best Weird Fiction''.
His first collection, ''Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan'', was published in 2021 by Kitab.<ref name="isfdb midnight doorways"/> It won the 2022 Crawford Award.<ref name=2022crawford>{{Cite web |title=2022 IAFA Crawford Award and Shortlist Announced |url=https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2022/2022-iafa-crawford-award-and-shortlist-announced/ |website=fantastic-arts.org}} Retrieved 2026-05-20.</ref>
===Personal life=== Malik's interests include Sufi poetry and playing the guitar.<ref name="locus spotlight 201506"/> He currently works in the healthcare industry.<ref name="nightmare mag 201504"/>
==Bibliography== ===Collections=== *''Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan'' (2021, Kitab, {{isbn|978-9696-16058-8}}) **Contains the following stories: "Ishq", "The Wandering City", "Resurrection Points", "The Fortune of Sparrows", "Dead Lovers on Each Blade, Hung", "The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family", and "In the Ruins of Mohenjo-Daro".<ref name="isfdb midnight doorways pub"/>
===Short works=== *"The Crimson Storm" in ''Thirteen Stories #10'', edited by Jennifer M. Brooks (June 2003, Nocturna Digital Press) *"The Well That Never Ended" in ''Deep Magic #23'', edited by Jeremy Whitted (April 2004, Amberlin) *"A Demon in the Mughal Court" in ''The Crimson Pact, Volume 4'', edited by Paul Genesse (September 2012, Alliteration Ink, {{isbn|978-0-9858254-6-1}}) *"Pinned and Wriggling on the Wall" in ''Daily Science Fiction'', edited by Michele Barasso and Jonathan Laden (June 2013) *"Hearts in Reverse" in ''The Crimson Pact, Volume 5'', edited by Paul Genesse (2013, Iron Dragon Books, {{isbn|978-0-9850038-4-5}}) *"Blood Women" in ''Chiral Mad 2'', edited by Michael Bailey (December 2013, Written Backwards, {{isbn|978-1-4942-3997-8}}) *"Resurrection Points" in ''Strange Horizons'', edited by Niall Harrison (August 2014) *"The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" in ''Qualia Nous'', edited by Michael Bailey (2014, Written Backwards, {{isbn|978-0-578-14646-1}}) *"Laal Andhi" in ''Truth or Dare?'', edited by Max Booth III (2014, Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing, {{isbn|978-0-9860594-5-2}}) *"Ishq" in ''Black Static #43'', edited by Andy Cox (November/December 2014, TTA Press) *"The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn" in ''Tor.com'', edited by Ellen Datlow (April 2015) *"The Last Manuscript" in ''Gamut'', edited by Richard Thomas (November 2017, Gamut Magazine) *"In the Ruins of Mohenjo-Daro" in ''The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu: New Lovecraftian Fiction'', edited by Paula Guran (April 2016, Robinson, {{isbn|978-1-4721-2003-8}}) *"The Fortune of Sparrows" in ''Black Feathers: Dark Avian Tales'', edited by Ellen Datlow (February 2017, Pegasus Books, {{isbn|978-1-68177-321-6}}) *"Emperors of Jinn" in ''The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories'', edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin (March 2017, Solaris Books, {{isbn|978-1-78108-416-8}}) *"Dead Lovers on Each Blade, Hung" in ''Nightmare Magazine'', edited by John Joseph Adams (November 2018); ''The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019'', edited by Carmen Maria Machado and John Joseph Adams (October 2019, Mariner Books, {{isbn|9781328604378}}) *"Folie à Deux, or the Ticking Hourglass" in ''Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles'', edited by Ellen Datlow (June 2020, Anchor Books, {{isbn|978-0-525-56575-8}}) *"The Wandering City" in ''Us in Flux'', part of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University (July 2020)<ref name="asu us in flux"/> *"City of Red Midnight: A Hikayat" in ''Tor.com'' (October 2020) *"#Spring Love, #Pichal Pairi in ''Tor.com'' (March 2021)
===Poetry=== *"Blood Blues" in ''Space and Time #122'', edited by Hildy Silverman (Fall/Winter 2014)
==Awards and recognition== {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Award ! Category ! Work ! Result ! {{Ref.}} |- | 2014 | Bram Stoker Awards | Short Fiction | rowspan="3" | "The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" | {{won}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik">{{cite web |url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/eaw.cgi?191433 |title=Award Bibliography: Usman T. Malik |work=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |access-date=2026-05-15 }}</ref><ref name="isfdb stoker 2014"/> |- | rowspan="2" | 2015 | Locus Award | Best Short Story | {{nom|11th place}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/><ref name="isfdb locus 2015"/> |- | Nebula Award | Best Short Story | {{nom}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/><ref name="isfdb nebula 2015"/> |- | rowspan="4" | 2016 | British Fantasy Award | Best Novella | rowspan="4" | "The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn" | {{won}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/><ref name="isfdb bfa 2016"/> |- | Locus Awards | Best Novella | {{nom|6th place}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/><ref name="isfdb locus 2016"/> |- | Nebula Awards | Best Novella | {{nom}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/><ref name="isfdb nebula 2016"/> |- | World Fantasy Award | Best Novella | {{nom}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/><ref name="isfdb wfa 2016"/> |- | 2017 | Locus Awards | Best Novelette | "In the Ruins of Mohenjo-Daro" | {{nom|21th place}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/><ref name="isfdb locus 2017"/> |- | rowspan="2" | 2018 | Bram Stoker Awards | Best Long Fiction | "Dead Lovers on Each Blade, Hung" | {{nom}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/><ref name="isfdb stoker 2018"/> |- | Locus Awards | Best Short Story | "The Fortune of Sparrows" | {{nom|31th place}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/><ref name="isfdb locus 2018"/> |- | rowspan="2" | 2021 | colspan="2" | Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction | rowspan="2" | ''City of Red Midnight: A Hikayat'' | {{nom}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/> |- | Locus Awards | Best Novelette | {{nom|10th place}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/> |- | rowspan="2" | 2021 | rowspan="2" | Locus Awards | Best Novelette | ''Folie à Deux, or the Ticking Hourglass'' | {{nom|3th place}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/> |- | Best Short Story | "The Wandering City" | {{nom|27th place}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/> |- | rowspan="6" | 2022 | World Fantasy Awards | Best Collection | rowspan="4" | ''Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan'' | {{won}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/> |- | Locus Awards | Best Collection | {{nom|4th place}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/> |- | Ignyte Awards | Outstanding Anthology/Collected Works | {{Nom|Finalist}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/> |- | Crawford Award | — | {{won}} |<ref name=2022crawford /> |- | World Fantasy Awards | Best Short Fiction | rowspan="2" | "#Spring Love, #Pichal Pairi" | {{nom}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/> |- | Locus Awards | Best Short Story | {{nom|32nd place}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/> |- | 2023 | Shirley Jackson Awards | Best Novella | ''Challawa'' | {{nom}} | <ref name="ISFDB: Malik"/> |}
==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="asu us in flux">{{cite web |url=https://csi.asu.edu/story/malik-uif/ |title=The Wandering City by Usman T. Malik |access-date=March 18, 2021 |publisher=Arizona State University |archive-date=November 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126194110/https://csi.asu.edu/story/malik-uif/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="exptrib 20150512">{{cite web |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/885030/usman-t-malik-becomes-first-pakistani-to-win-bram-stoker-award-for-short-fiction/ |title=Usman T Malik becomes first Pakistani to win Bram Stoker Award for short fiction |date=May 12, 2015 |work=The Express Tribune |access-date=March 17, 2021 |archive-date=June 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629160850/http://tribune.com.pk/story/885030/usman-t-malik-becomes-first-pakistani-to-win-bram-stoker-award-for-short-fiction/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="guardian 20150911">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/sep/11/seek-out-new-worlds-of-science-fiction-damien-walter |title=Seek out new worlds of science fiction – there's so much happening out there |first=Damien |last=Walter |date=September 11, 2015 |work=The Guardian |access-date=March 17, 2021 |archive-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204004929/https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/sep/11/seek-out-new-worlds-of-science-fiction-damien-walter |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb bfa 2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?7+2016 |title=2015 British Fantasy Award |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=November 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128021838/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?7+2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb locus 2015">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?28+2015 |title=2015 Locus Poll Award |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=September 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910053354/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?28+2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb locus 2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?28+2016 |title=2016 Locus Poll Award |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=July 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720210133/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?28+2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb locus 2017">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?28+2017 |title=2017 Locus Poll Award |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=July 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701054826/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?28+2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb locus 2018">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?28+2018 |title=2018 Locus Poll Award |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127233252/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?28+2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb midnight doorways">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2844512 |title=Title: Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=March 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210317213520/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2844512 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb midnight doorways pub">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?828223 |title=Publication: Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=March 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210317213829/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?828223 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb nebula 2015">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?31+2015 |title=2015 Nebula Award |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=June 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607234302/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?31+2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb nebula 2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?31+2016 |title=2016 Nebula Award |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808173708/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?31+2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb stoker 2014">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?40+2014 |title=2014 Bram Stoker Award |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=October 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018190142/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?40+2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb stoker 2018">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?40+2018 |title=2018 Bram Stoker Award |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=March 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210317205801/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?40+2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="isfdb wfa 2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?44+2016 |title=2016 World Fantasy Award |access-date=March 17, 2021 |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |archive-date=November 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125193121/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ay.cgi?44+2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="locus spotlight 201506">{{cite magazine |date= June 2015 |title=Spotlight on: Usman T. Malik, author |magazine=Locus |volume=74 |number=6 |page=39 |issn=0047-4959 }}</ref>
<ref name="nightmare mag 201504">{{cite magazine |date=April 2015 |first=Erika |last=Holt |editor-first=John Joseph |editor-last=Adams |editor-link=John Joseph Adams |title=Author Spotlight: Usman T. Malik |url=http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-usman-t-malik/ |magazine=Nightmare Magazine |issue=31 |page= |issn= |access-date=March 17, 2021 |archive-date=September 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928184525/http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/author-spotlight-usman-t-malik/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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{{authority control}} {{World Fantasy Award Best Collection}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malik, Usman T}} Category:Living people Category:Pakistani male short story writers Category:Pakistani short story writers Category:Pakistani horror writers Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Islamic fiction writers Category:World Fantasy Award–winning writers Category:21st-century Pakistani writers