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Rukhsana Khan

Author

Scarborough, ON
Phone: 416-754-2372
Email: rukhsana@rukhsanakhan.com
Web: http://www.rukhsanakhan.com

Born: 1962. Lahore, Pakistan
Husband and four children. Three girls and a boy.

Biography

Her grade eight teacher first told her that she was a writer. At sixteen Rukhsana wrote and illustrated a picture book that eventually ended up in the hands of a New York children's editor. The picture book was not accepted, but the letter she received was encouraging and many years later Rukhsana tried again.

After nine years, Rukhsana had not one book, but five books under contract, with major children's publishers both in Canada and the United States. Her second book, The Roses in My Carpets won the honorary Januscz Korczak award, awarded bi-annually by the Polish section of I.B.B.Y.(International Board on Books for Young People). Her novel, Dahling if You Luv Me Would You Please Please Smile, has been shortlisted for the Red Maple award.

Along the way Rukhsana became interested in the art of storytelling. She has attended and told at numerous Storytelling Festivals and been on the programming committee of Toronto's Storytelling Festival. She has made numerous television appearances. Including a storytelling stint on Vision TV's show, Skylight, which was rebroadcast on CBC Newsworld's show The Moral Divide. She was interviewed on TVO's Studio Two and CTS's Michael Coren Live.

Rukhsana sees storytelling and books as bridges to understanding people of different cultures. Her stories have enabled children of all cultures to connect with cultures of Eastern origins.

Published Works

Silly Chicken, Viking, 2005
Ruler of the Courtyard, Viking, 2003
The Kite Thief, Scholastic Canada, 2000.
Bedtime Ba-a--alk, Stoddart Kids, 1998.
The Roses in My Carpets, Stoddart Kids, 1998.
Dahling if You Luv Me Would You Please Please Smile, Stoddart Kids, 1999.
Muslim Child, Napoleon Publishing, 1999.

Short stories: Fajr, Santa didn't Come, Message International, July and December 1993

Songs: A Little Sadaqa, Thank You Allah, Born to Learn, One Big Family, Where Can My Baby Sister Be? Sound Vision, Adam's World Videos 5,6,7,8.

Awards

The Artist for Silly Chicken won the Ezra Jack Keats Award for best new illustrator (New York Public Library)

The Roses in My Carpets: The Honorary Janusz Korczak International Literature Award of the Polish Section of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) in 1998.

Dahling if You Luv Me Would You Please Please Smile: Shortlisted for Red Maple Award; short-listed for the Ruth Schwartz (2000) and nominated for the Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Awards (2001)

Muslim Child: Shortlisted for the 2001 Hackmatack Award. Canadian Children's Book Centre "Our Choice".

Other Memberships

The Storytellers School of Toronto
Storytellers of Canada

Available For

School visits, workshops, presentations! I do a program in schools called Universality in Folktales where I focus on writing/storytelling and story structure.