“I did not grow up in poverty. But I did grow up with a poor boy's sense of longing, in my case not for what my family had never had, but for what we had had and lost.”

Pakistani novelist and essayist of the 2000s and beyond, Hamid blends fiction with social critique. His work explores globalization, class, and identity, often through layered narratives that reflect contemporary South Asian experiences. *The Reluctant Fundamentalist* and *Exit West* are among his most widely discussed novels.