Novelist and essayist Mirza Waheed was born and brought up in Kashmir. His debut novel, The Collaborator, was an international bestseller and a finalist for the Guardian First Book Award and the Shakti Bhat Prize. It was also longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. His second novel, The Book of Gold Leaves, was shortlisted for the DSC Prize 2016, longlisted for the Folio Prize, and was a finalist for the 2015 Tata Literature Live! Book of the Year. His last novel, Tell Her Everything, was nominated for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2019 and Tata Literature Live Book of the Year, and it won the Hindu Prize for Fiction 2019. Waheed’s new novel Maryam & Son will be published next year. Waheed lives in London.