About

Shahida Rahman is an author and writer.

She was born and raised in Cambridge, UK. Her late father, Abdul Karim moved to Cambridge from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1957 and her mother arrived in 1964. Her father was a successful restauranteur.

Shahida writes historical fiction, non-fiction and children’s stories, raising awareness of South Asian history, culture and heritage.

An Ayah’s Choice was published in March 2022 by Onwe Press. Set in 1900s, it tells the story of an Indian Ayah (nanny) and her journey to freedom and independence.

Lascar (2nd edition) published by Perfect Publishers, 2021, (the first edition was previously published by Indigo Dreams Publishing, 2012), is a work of historical fiction inspired by a paternal ancestor, The highly-acclaimed novel is the story of a lascar (seaman) and is set in the 1860s.

She has contributed widely to print and online publications, including Best of British, The Great War and the Feminist and Women’s Studies Association and has blogged for the Huffington Post UK as well as BBC Radio.

She has won numerous civic and cultural awards for her work such as the Channel S ‘Special Acknowledgement Award’ in 2013, the ‘Arts and Cultural Awareness Award’ at the British Muslim Awards in 2015. Shahida has been on the judging panel of the Young Muslim Writers Awards.

She is a trustee of the Cambridge Central Mosque which is Cambridge’s first purpose-built mosque and Europe’s first eco-mosque.

Shahida is also an advisor to the trustees of the Museum of Cambridge. Shahida and her brother Dr. Kal Karim, are trustees of the Karim Foundation which aims to relieve poverty by providing food and support with domestic costs for those in financial hardship.