See the hottest books publishing this Summer

Sheba Karim author biography, plus links to books by Sheba Karim.

Author Snapshot

Sheba Karim

Sheba Karim lives in New York City. She is working on a short story collection and is very glad not to be a lawyer anymore.

She says....

I fell in love with writing at an early age. I used to write novels in spiral bound notebooks, complete with illustrations that I'd copied from somewhere else. None of these novels were ever completed; back then, I couldn't quite get past the beginnings of things. My parents encouraged my writing, but, as hardworking Pakistani immigrants to whom medicine and perhaps engineering were the only feasible career paths, they felt it their duty to occasionally remind me, "Writing is a very nice past-time—for a doctor."

I'm not sure why, but I stopped writing in high school. In fact, I didn't think about writing again in any serious way until sometime in law school (not being very good at science, I'd decided to pursue law instead of medicine). After I graduated, I practiced family law for Legal Services in New York City, representing survivors of domestic violence who were primarily from South Asian countries. It was good work; every day I did something tangible to help someone else and I grew close to some of my clients. But the more I practiced law, the more I realized I didn't want to be a lawyer, and the more I wondered why I had waylaid my dreams of writing. I realized that, if I didn't at least make a serious attempt to pursue a career as a writer, I'd always regret it, and spend the rest of my life wondering "what if."

I began taking writing classes at the New School in Manhattan, and started working on a portfolio. Eventually I applied to MFA programs in creative writing, and was accepted into the Iowa Writers Workshop. I quit my job, and began my life as a full-time writer. Right before I started at Iowa, I did a writing residency at Hedgebrook. While I was there, I wrote a humorous monologue about a Pakistani-American girl recounting some of her more traumatic teenage experiences. This monologue was later performed in San Francisco. The audience seemed to really enjoy it, and I began to think that there might be a novel here, and how it would be a funny novel, but also an important one, because there weren't very many books that addressed the experiences Pakistanis or Muslims have growing up in U.S.

When I got to Iowa, I was still mulling over the idea when I found out that a children's fiction workshop was being offered (apparently for the first time ever). I took this as a sign, registered for the workshop, and began working on Skunk Girl. The rest, as they say, is her story.

This biography was last updated on 05/09/2017.

The above represents the biographical information provided by the publisher for the most recent book by this author that BookBrowse has covered. As such, it is likely a brief snapshot in time. If you are looking for a more expansive biography, you may wish to do an internet search for the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Books by this Author

Books by Sheba Karim at BookBrowse
That Thing We Call a Heart jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The Busybody Book Club
    by Freya Sampson
    They can't even agree on what to read, so how are they going to solve a murder?

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Erased
    by Anna Malaika Tubbs

    In Erased, Anna Malaika Tubbs recovers all that American patriarchy has tried to destroy.

  • Book Jacket

    Songs of Summer
    by Jane L. Rosen

    A young woman crashes a Fire Island wedding to find her birth mother—and gets more than she bargained for.

Who Said...

Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

B a L

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.