Roopa Farooki
Encyclopedia
Roopa Farooki is a British
novelist. Born in Lahore
, Pakistan
, to a Pakistani
father and Bangladeshi
mother in 1974, they moved to London
at the age of seven months. Roopa studied PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) at New College, Oxford
University, worked in Corporate Finance (at Arthur Andersen) and then as an Advertising Account Director (at Saatchi & Saatchi and JWT), before she turned to writing fiction full time.
Farooki’s novels have been published in English internationally (in the US and Canada, UK, Australia, India, Singapore) and in translation in a dozen languages across Europe.
. Her mother, Nilofar, later had a long term relationship with an English-Iraqi of Jewish descent. Despite being of both Pakistani
and Bangladeshi descent, she speaks only English
because her parents were keen on assimilating into London and spoke to her in only English.
Farooki cites her father as an inspiration, and has written frankly about her relationship with her father and his influence on her work in the UK national press. She has also written about her experiences of eczema, relationship counselling, and fertility treatment. Her recent novels have featured characters with Asperger’s Syndrome, and Bipolar Disorder.
She currently lives in southwest France
and southeast England
with her Anglo-Irish
husband, two young sons, and twin baby girls, and teaches creative writing. She has been a lecturer on the Masters programme in Prose Fiction at Canterbury Christchurch University in England. She is also the Ambassador for the UK relationship counselling charity, Relate
.
, Zadie Smith
and Monica Ali
. In an interview with the Metro in 2010, headlined, “Nationality is Not The Issue”, she said she was flattered by the comparisons, but said that a key difference was that she had made a deliberate decision not to focus on cultural clash in her novels, and to write universal stories.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
novelist. Born in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, to a Pakistani
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
father and Bangladeshi
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
mother in 1974, they moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
at the age of seven months. Roopa studied PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) at New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
University, worked in Corporate Finance (at Arthur Andersen) and then as an Advertising Account Director (at Saatchi & Saatchi and JWT), before she turned to writing fiction full time.
Novels
She wrote her first novel, Bitter Sweets, while pregnant with her first child, and renovating a house in SW France. Bitter Sweets was first published in the UK in 2007, and shortlisted for the Orange Award for New Writers that year. She published her second novel, Corner Shop, in 2008. Her third novel, The Way Things Look To Me, was published in 2009, and was voted one of The Times Top 50 Paperbacks of 2009, long-listed for the Orange Prize 2010, and has been long-listed for the Impac Dublin Literary Award 2011. Her fourth novel, Half Life, was published in 2010, and was selected by Entertainment Weekly (US) as No. 2 on their list of “Eighteen Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Summer”. Her fifth novel, The Flying Man will be published in January 2012.Farooki’s novels have been published in English internationally (in the US and Canada, UK, Australia, India, Singapore) and in translation in a dozen languages across Europe.
Personal life
Roopa Farooki is the daughter of the late Nasir Ahmad Farooki, a Pakistani novelist and a prominent figure in Pakistani literary circles in the 1960s. Roopa's father abandoned her when she was 13, later marrying a Chinese AmericanChinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
. Her mother, Nilofar, later had a long term relationship with an English-Iraqi of Jewish descent. Despite being of both Pakistani
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and Bangladeshi descent, she speaks only English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
because her parents were keen on assimilating into London and spoke to her in only English.
Farooki cites her father as an inspiration, and has written frankly about her relationship with her father and his influence on her work in the UK national press. She has also written about her experiences of eczema, relationship counselling, and fertility treatment. Her recent novels have featured characters with Asperger’s Syndrome, and Bipolar Disorder.
She currently lives in southwest France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and southeast England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
with her Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
husband, two young sons, and twin baby girls, and teaches creative writing. She has been a lecturer on the Masters programme in Prose Fiction at Canterbury Christchurch University in England. She is also the Ambassador for the UK relationship counselling charity, Relate
Relate
Relate is a charity providing relationship support throughout the United Kingdom. Services include counselling for couples, families, young people and individuals, sex therapy, mediation and training courses....
.
Acceptance
Farooki’s novels have been critically well received, and she has been compared to other British female novelists, Andrea LevyAndrea Levy
Andrea Levy is a British author, born in London to Jamaican parents who sailed to England on the Empire Windrush in 1948.-Identity and writings:...
, Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith is a British novelist. To date she has written three novels. In 2003, she was included on Granta's list of 20 best young authors...
and Monica Ali
Monica Ali
Monica Ali is a British writer of Bangladeshi origin. She is the author of Brick Lane, her debut novel, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2003...
. In an interview with the Metro in 2010, headlined, “Nationality is Not The Issue”, she said she was flattered by the comparisons, but said that a key difference was that she had made a deliberate decision not to focus on cultural clash in her novels, and to write universal stories.
External links
- http://newsroom.orange.co.uk/2010/03/17/orange-prize-for-fiction-announces-2010-longlist-3/
- http://www.impacdublinaward.ie/2011/Titles/Farooki.htm
- http://www.autistica.org.uk/ebay/2010-book-auction/roopa_farooki.html
- http://www.relate.org.uk/about-us/index.html
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/jul/28/familyandrelationships.family
- http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/821546-roopa-farooki-i-didnt-eat-or-sleep-while-writing-new-novel-half-life
- http://actionforautism.co.uk/category/literature/
- http://www.indiacurrents.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=137e5cfd278155e3e4a70fa3af1b1cf6
- http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20358746_20765554,00.html
- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/half-life-by-roopa-farooki-1950400.html
- http://www.dawn.com/2010/10/31/my-brother-enemy.html
- http://southasianlitfest.com/speakers/
- http://www.headline.co.uk/bookdetails.aspx?BookID=227803