Pakistani journalist and author Acclaimed for his first novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2008), a satire on Pakistani politics, Muhammad Hanif was awarded a Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Women lie at the heart of Hanif's new novel, 'Our Lady of Alice Bhatti' set in Karachi's extremely squalid area where the lowest of the low in Pakistani society live. The social concern around which the novel turns is the shocking plight of Pakistan's women and the culture's entrenched yet casual misogyny. Graduated from the Pakistan Air Force Academy, Hanif decided to pursue a career in journalism. He moved to London in 1996 and studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia. Later he became head of the BBC's Urdu service. Born in Okara, Pakistan, Muhammad Hanif moved back to his country in 2008, where he lives now.