Selected essays by Mohsin Hamid from 2000 to 2014 are collected in the book, Discontent and Its Civilizations.
Recent essays:
2024
"The Nation's Decline Has Been Astonishing, Will People Accept the Necessary Change?", on the legacy of Conservative rule and the prospects after Labour's victory in the UK elections, from: the Observer
"As the Concrete of the World Comes Apart, I Hope for More Flowers in the Cracks", on Gaza, climate change, and the end of the US role as a world government, from: the Washington Post
2022
"Don't Let the Nightmare Peddlers Win", on the removal of migrants and the benefit of migrants to the West, from: the Guardian
"We Risk Being Ruled by Dangerous Binaries", on polarization, technology, and the possibilities of fiction, from: the Guardian
"In a Sick World, Choosing Between Freedom and Restriction", on the novel Companion Piece by Ali Smith, from: the New York Times
2021
"On Afghanistan and the case against wars", on the departure of Western forces from Afghanistan and the risks of a new Cold War, from: the Financial Times
2019
"In the 21st century, we are all migrants", on the universality of migration, from: National Geographic
2018
"What is possible", on childhood, parenthood, California, and Lahore, from: the New Yorker
"In the land of the pure, no one is pure enough", on the rise of nationalism and the importance of both impurity and writing, from: the Guardian
2017
"If the world was ending what would your last message be?", on the lessons of an imagined end, from the New York Times
"Writing Exit West", on the story behind writing the novel, from: the Guardian
"Partition, 70 years on", on old hatreds still dangerously alive, from: the Guardian
"The kites are leaving", on people (and birds of prey) making way for the construction boom in Lahore, from: the New York Times Magazine
"How I solved it: New York or Lahore?", on figuring out where to live, from: the New Yorker
"On the dangers of nostalgia", on the need for storytellers to imagine a desirable future, from: the Guardian
"What is wrong with repatriating Afghan refugees?", on the need for Pakistan to allow refugees to stay, from: Herald
2016
"Is travel writing dead?", on writing and migration, from: Granta
"Refugees: overcoming our fear", on refugees and the need for courage, from: TIME
"Unity, faith, discipline", on faith and living in Pakistan, from: Tin House
2015
"No Lucky Charms in Pakistan", on food and moving from California to Lahore as a child, from: the New York Times Magazine
"The turmoil of today's world", on the refugee crisis in Europe, from: the Guardian
"Life in the age of permawar", on violence, fear, kink, technology, religion, and writing, from: the Guardian
"Does the size of a book suggest significance?", on efficiency and art, from: the New York Times
"Do money woes spur creatvity or stifle it?", on writing fiction and making a living, from: the New York Times
"The great divide", on finding human connection in a world of walls, from: the New York Times Magazine
"Does fiction have the power to sway politics?", on literature and changing the world, from: the New York Times
2014
"Why migration is a fundamental human right", on the right to move, from: the Guardian
"Should the United States declare books an essential good?", on writers as workers, from: the New York Times
"Does where you live make a difference in how and what you write?", on home and writing, from: the New York Times
"How has parenthood informed your writing life?", on being a father and a writer, from: the New York Times
"What are the draws and drawbacks of success for writers?", on novelists and commercial hits, from: the New York Times
"'Write what you know' - helpful advice or idle cliche?", on different approaches to writing, from: the New York Times
"Are the new 'golden age' TV shows the new novels?", on possibilities for fiction, from: the New York Times
"How do e-books change the reading experience?", on being human and new technology, from: the New York Times
|