Shahnaz Ahsan

Award winning author, columnist and food writer

'Like talking to your smartest, warmest friend at the kitchen table'

Leah Hyslop, author of Made in London
'A compelling voice on the UK scene'

Allan Jenkins, former editor Observer Food Monthly
'Someone who could bring a shopping list alive'

Orlando Murrin, author and broadcaster
‘Shahnaz writes beautifully about food’

Dina Begum, author of Brick Lane Cookbook

About

Shahnaz Ahsan is an award-winning author, columnist and food writer.

The Jackfruit Chronicles: Memories and Recipes from a British-Bangladeshi Kitchen (HarperNorth/HarperCollins) was the recipient of the British Library Narrative Cookery Book Award 2026.

Shahnaz's debut novel Hashim & Family (John Murray/Hachette) was an Observer Best Book of 2020 and was shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker Prize.

She writes for Observer Food Monthly, Vittles, Good Food, Waitrose Magazine, Borough Market Magazine, and Hyphen, among other publications.

Shahnaz regularly appears on national and international radio, including BBC Radio 4, BBC Asian Network, BBC Scotland, Times Radio, and ABC Radio Australia. She has also taught creative writing at the University of Westminster, and facilitates sessions on food culture for public and private sector clients.

Born and raised in West Yorkshire, Shahnaz is of British-Bangladeshi heritage, and has also lived in the USA, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Rwanda.

She writes a monthly Substack newsletter: Scribbles and Dribbles about life as a writer while raising two small children.