ABOUT

(The Short Version)

Kainat Azhar is a Pakistani-American Muslim who cherishes stories. She has always been interested in the various experiences of religion and culture, and the roles that they play in a person's life. An avid reader and writer, Kainat loves exploring the complexities of relationships and emotions through her work. She enjoys writing both fiction and poetry. When not immersed in a book or animatedly typing stories on her laptop, Kainat can probably be found watching SpongeBob, eating noodles, or adding new destinations to her travel bucket list.

(The Long Version)

Kainat has been writing ever since she was able to hold a pencil, beginning with half-formed stories scribbled on scraps of paper before progressing to organized notes and coherent storylines on Google Docs. Ever since she was a little girl, her biggest dream was to become a published author. Additionally, growing up, she was often disappointed by Muslim representation in contemporary fiction, and wanted to be a part of changing that narrative. She co-published two anthologies with her high school's writers guild, but held fast to her desire to publish her sole work. 

So when the pandemic hit, eighteen-year-old Kainat took her plethora of free time as an opportunity to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a published author, as well as actively work towards altering the portrayal of Muslims in modern fiction. She gathered her half-formed thoughts, her random journals with hastily written sentences, her scattered documents of notes, and spent the next two years of the pandemic structuring it all into a story. She started and completed her debut novel Journey to Hidaya on Wattpad, where it gained over 180,000 reads, hundreds of positive reviews, and many impressive ratings. In her junior year of college, Kainat (then twenty years old) decided to take it a step further and publish her novel. She spent six months networking and corresponding with professionals to ensure her novel would be in its most polished and authentic form. And on April 25, 2023, her debut novel Journey to Hidaya was released on Amazon and many other platforms as a paperback and ebook, where it rapidly gained popularity and praise.

​You can find her on Instagram @authorkainatazhar & @everyunspokenstory, on TikTok @authorkainatazhar, and by email at kainatcazhar@gmail.com.