Taran Khan - Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul

“One of the first things I was told when I arrived in Kabul was never to walk…”

When journalist Taran Khan arrives in Kabul, she uncovers a place that defies her expectations. Her wanderings with other Kabulis reveal a fragile city in a state of flux: stricken by near-constant war, but flickering with the promise of peace; governed by age-old codes but experimenting with new modes of living.

Her walks take her to the unvisited tombs of the dead, and to the land of the living - like the booksellers, archaeologists, film-makers and entrepreneurs who are remaking this 3,000-year-old city. Join Taran on stage for an illuminating talk and hear what happened as NATO troops began to withdraw from the country, and Taran watched the cycle of transformation begin again.

Taran's book 'Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul' will be available to purchase at the Festival book store over the Festival weekend.

There will be a book signing straight after the event.

Published by Chatto & Windus.

Reviews:

**Winner of the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award 2021**

**Winner of the Tata Literature Live First Book Award for Non-Fiction 2020**

'Powerfully evocative' Kapka Kassabova

'A wonderful journey' Atiq Rahimi

'A brilliant book' CHRISTINA LAMB, author of Farewell Kabul

About Taran Khan:

Taran N. Khan is a journalist and writer based in Mumbai. She grew up in Aligarh and was educated in Delhi and London. She has published widely in India and internationally, including in Guernica, Al Jazeera, The Caravan and Himal Southasian and has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Jan Michalski Foundation and Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. From 2006 to 2013, Khan spent long periods living and working in Kabul. Her first book, 'Shadow City', won the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award and the Tata Literature Live First Book Award for Non-Fiction.