Contributor(s): Mirza Waheed | Acclaimed novelist Mirza Waheed will be introducing his new novel The Book of Gold Leaves: a book of piercing lyricism, a story of the impossible choice between personal duty and romantic love. ‘Waheed writes about war with a devastating and unflinching calm, with the melancholy wisdom of someone attuned to but never hardened by its horrors’ The Guardian. ‘Like his great-grandfather's gold painting, Waheed's work will undoubtedly endure’ Financial Times. Mr Mirza Waheed was born and brought up in Kashmir. His debut novel The Collaborator was shortlisted for The Guardian First Book Award and the Shakti Bhat Prize, and long listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize. It was also book of the year for The Telegraph, New Statesman, Financial Times, Business Standard and Telegraph India. Waheed has written for the BBC, The Guardian, Granta, Al Jazeera English and The New York Times. He lives in London. Ms Razia Iqbal is a BBC Presenter. She is one of the main presenters of Newshour, the flagship current affairs programme on BBC World Service radio. She also presents arts programmes on Radio 4, and a books programme on BBC World TV, called Talking Books. She was a judge on the Baileys Prize for Women's fiction last year; Chair of the Commonwealth short story prize and this year, is judging the Wellcome Foundation book prize. She was the BBC's Arts Correspondent for many years.
