User:Mehreen Ahmed Novelist/sandbox

Biography
Mehreen Ahmed is an Australian novelist born in Bangladesh on 24th November 1958. She is the eldest daughter of parents Mr Manzoor Alam and Mrs Sarwari Alam, survivors of the Bangladesh Independence War .Her father Mr Manzoor Alam was a zonal General Manager of Jute Mills Corporation in Bangladesh[1]. Her mother was a high school English teacher [2]. When the war broke out in 1971, she and her family escaped through the back doors of her house in Khulna [3]. Platinum Jubilee Jute Mills [4] to flee from the Pakistan army who were barging in through the front gates of the Mill. They took a boat to cross the River Bhairab  and walked miles through many villages. The villagers gave them shelter and food over these refugee days until they reached Dhaka. They took a launch boat  and crossed another river. From this boat, Mehreen saw innumerable bloated bodies floating in the river; horrors of the war which still plague her.

She completed her SSC [5] or matriculation[6] from Kamrunnessa Govt Girls High School in Dhaka [7] and went on to study at Holycross College [8] in Dhaka to complete HSC [9] before she studied English Literature at Dhaka University [10] which was her first MA [11]. Her second MA was Computer Assisted Language Learning [12] from the University of Queensland [13]

She grew up in the city of Dhaka mostly but has travelled extensively to Canada and Europe. Currently, she lives with her husband and children in Brisbane, Australia, Tanzih Zebunessa Ahmed, and her son Navid Ahmed.

Awards/Nominations/Best ofs/Editor's Choice
Some of Mehreen’s works have won awards, and literary contests and nominations. The Pacifist was DD Magazine’s Editor’s Choice. It has also won Reader Ready Author Shout Award. Her one-sentence story, Phases of the Moon won first place in Academy of the Heart and Mind. Her works have four times been Best of Mad Swirls: City Smell, In Stillness, Vape, Space.  One of her short stories River of Melted Chocolate was best of Alien Buddha Zine, 2023. Two of her short stories, Number Ninety-Four and Interlude have received Best of the Net nominations by Literati Magazine 2020/21 and Decolonial Passage in 2023/24. Her Dolly was a winner in the Waterloo Short Story Contest. Her Flower Girl was finalist in the Adelaide Magazine Short Story Annual Competition.

Critical Acclaim
Midwest Book Review [16]

The Pacifist received a stellar review from the Midwest Review which states, “A deftly crafted and consistently entertaining novel, “The Pacifist” reveals Australian author Mehreen Ahmed’s exceptional flair for narrative storytelling and compellingly memorable characters. Original, compelling, skillfully written from cover to cover, “The Pacifist” is very highly recommended.”

The Blue, Red Lyrae garnered an equally beautiful review from the Midwest Book Review — “Both novellas also pull readers into the psychology of the characters and the complexities and existential crises they experience whether job loss, a love affair, death/murder of a sibling or the disappearance of a cat.”

Publications
Creative/Literary Publications

She is award winning and widely published. She has written novels, Novella short stories, and Flash/Micro Fiction, ten books to date. She has published over two hundred short stories, micro/flash and non-fiction combined in various literary magazines, notably, Chiron Review[14] (forthcoming in the December 2024 winter issue, Straylight Literary Review [15], BlazeVOX [1], Muse India [1]. Litro Magazine one of Britain’s most prestigious literary magazines has also published her stories. Her academic works have been cited in notable journals. See below under citations.

Faux Pas. Flash Fiction. Straylight Literary Magazine, USA. March (2020)

Oasis. Short Story. Muse India, Issue 110 Versa Ritu. India, July-August (2023)