DETERMINATION - Tawseef Khan in conversation with Lara Williams

We're absolutely delighted to be working with Manchester Museum and Footnote Press to host the launch of Tawseef Khan's incredible debut novel Determination - a polyphonic exploration of the UK immigration system and the story of one woman's attempt to find a life for herself amidst the pressures of her job. The event will be held in Manchester Museum's stunning South Asia Gallery and Tawseef will be in conversation with Lara Williams (The Odyssey, Supper Club)

Doors: 6.30, starts: 7.00

Tickets start from £4.00. Determination will also be available to purchase on the night and Tawseef will be signing copies after the talk. If you would like a signed copy but cannot make the event, please contact us on 0161 274 3331 or [email protected] and we can arrange this for you.

About the book:

Jamila Shah is twenty-nine and exhausted.

An immigration solicitor tasked with running the precious family law firm, Jamila is prone to being woken in the middle of the night by frantic phone calls from clients on the cusp of deportation. Working under the shadow of the government's 'hostile environment', she constantly prays and hopes that their 'determinations' will result in her clients being allowed to stay.

With no time for friends, family or even herself (never mind a needy partner), Jamila's life feels hectic and out of control. Then a breakdown of sorts forces her to seek change - to pursue her own happiness while navigating the endless expectations that the world seems to have of her, and still committing herself to a career devoted to helping others.

In this polyphonic, assured and character-driven debut, we meet the staff of Shah & Co Solicitors, who themselves arrived in the UK not too long ago, and their clients, more recent arrivals who are made to jump through hoops to create a life for themselves whilst trying to achieve some semblance of normality.

"A compassionate, beautifully told portrait populated by lives that circle the UK's lamentable immigration story. This is a story of determination, also grief, hope, loss and desperation, as well as a reminder of the care, patience and kindness at the human end of a broken system" -Guy Gunaratne

"Determination is a hymn to empathy, alive with care and love ... This is a novel not just to spend time with for the joy of the richly detailed world Khan has created but to be enlivened and challenged by. Embedded in his compelling and compassionate novel is an emphatic rebuttal to the racism and xenophobia rife in this country " - Rebecca Watson

About the Author:

Tawseef Khan is a qualified immigration solicitor and holds a doctoral degree from the University of Liverpool, where he examined the fairness of the British asylum system. He is also a graduate of the creative writing programme at the University of East Anglia, where he received the Seth Donaldson Memorial Bursary. His fiction has appeared in Lighthouse and Test Signal: a Northern anthology; his non-fiction in the New York Times, The Face and Hyphen. His debut non-fiction book Muslim, Actually was published by Atlantic in 2021. He lives in Manchester.

Information about access and getting to the museum can also be found here: Access - Manchester Museum

Host or Publisher Blackwell's Manchester