Kia Abdullah (17 May 1982) is a British-Asian author and journalist. She contributes to the Guardian newspaper and has written two novels: Life, Love and Assimilation (Adlibbed, 2006) and Child's Play (Revenge Ink, 2009).
Kia Abdullah wrote first novel Life, Love and Assimilation after graduating from Queen Mary, University of London with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. The novel debuted among praise and controversy in equal measures. The Bangladeshi community, including members of Abdullah’s own family, denounced the book due to its no-holds-barred description of the drugs problem in Tower Hamlets along with the inclusion of several sexually graphic scenes.
Despite the controversy, Abdullah remained firm in her view that taboo issues should be explored: “I have a voice and I’ll say what I want with it. I am not backing down. I am not staging a retreat. Let people say what they want to say.”
Life, Love and Assimilation, drew comparisons with Monica Ali's Brick Lane . Despite feeling “honoured” by this comparison to Ali, Abdullah says, “I feel that we are being pigeonholed together simply because of the content of our novels.”
Due to the success of the novel, Abdullah was offered a position at Asian Woman Magazine, a monthly glossy lifestyle title aimed at women from the South-Asian community. After a year at the magazine, Abdullah left to freelance and write second novel Child’s Play, a psychological crime thriller published in December 2009. Subsequently, Abdullah was offered, and accepted, a role as columnist for Asiana magazine. In addition to writing for the magazine, Abdullah writes on a range of topics from politics to relationships for the Guardian newspaper.
Abdullah has interviewed a range of prominent Asian actors and musicians including Meera Syal, Anoushka Shankar and Nitin Sawhney. She is an occasional guest on Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine Show and has appeared in documentaries and news reports for the BBC and Channel 4.
Abdullah was born and raised in the borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. She is of Bangladeshi descent; her parents moved to Britain from the Sylhet region of Bangladesh during the 1970s. Abdullah is the seventh oldest of nine children; one however died shortly after birth in 1974.
"I'm already accessible. If I were more accessible, I'd be posting up my number in phone boxes across London."- On being accessible to her readers.
"Anything can be good for a short time... even strangulation feels good initially."- On the difficulty of long-lasting relationships.
"Indian women are renowned for their beauty; Italian, French, Spanish and Mediterranean women are exotic; Scandinavian women are leggy and blonde; Oriental women are mysterious and alluring; Latin Americans are seductive and sensual the list goes on. But Bangladeshi women — well, no-one really knows or cares about us. And those who do, more often than not, think we’re all short, fat, ugly and downtrodden."- On the stereotype of Bangladeshi girls.
"I have all the clichéd problems with intimacy; I’m neurotic and hate people messing about with my space and stuff; I’m argumentative, competitive, uncompromising, spiteful and manipulative; and I can’t cook. They’re not exactly desirable qualities in a wife."- On getting married.
"Saying you like both Macs and PCs is like saying you're sleeping with two different men, which unfortunately I'm not."- On technology.
