Writing in a second language

Writer Rukhsana Ahmad gives tips on writing in a second language

Rukhsana Ahmad was born in Karachi and studied English Literature, then Linguistics at Karachi University, where she also taught briefly. After settling in Britain she resumed her study of English Literature at Reading University.

She has freelanced as a writer since 1985 and was Artistic Director of Kali Theatre Company from 1994 to 2002.

She is a founding member of the Asian Women Writers' Collective and a founding trustee of the South Asian Diaspora Literature and Arts Archive.

She was writer-in-residence in Middlesbrough, Newcastle and the London Borough of Harrow; a Reader for the Theatre Committee of the Arts Council of England; an Adviser to its Translation Panel and a member of its Committee for the Review of Literary Journals.

Rukhsana's many writing credits include the stage plays Song for a Sanctuary; The Gate-Keeper's Wife and River on Fire [short-listed for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award].

Her radio credits include adaptations of Midnight's Children and The Map of Love. She has translated poetry and prose, written short fiction and her novel, The Hope Chest, was published in 1996.

'What a find Ahmad is! She writes about women's legacy of grief without self-pity and if there is anger, it surfaces as wit.' Fay Weldon