Saman Shad
Bio
Saman is a writer, commentator, playwright, copywriter, documentary and radio maker and is currently the Editor at SBS Voices.
Her previous works have included radio and stage productions in Australia and the UK and a selection of her short stories have been published in British and Australian anthologies. She is currently working on a new memoir that explores multicultural motherhood.
Saman is a regular contributor to several publications, and she has appeared as a panelist on ABC's The Drum and on Seven's Sunrise as well as appearances at NSW Parliament and The Stella Prize School's Program.
Journalism
In addition to her work at SBS, Saman has been writing for some of the world’s biggest publications for a number of years. She has written for The Guardian, The Independent and The Telegraph in the UK. In Australia she has written for The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC News, news.com.au, The Guardian Australia and others. Her works focus on Opinion and commentary, Current Affairs, Lifestyle, Food, Parenting, Finance and Multiculturalism, amongst other topics.
Theatre
Saman began her career as a playwright by being part of an Asian women’s theatre group called Kali. Her first play addressed the plight of Indian villagers and had a reading at the Stratford East theatre. The play ended up going to the Edinburgh fringe festival. It was reviewed by The Scotsman who called it “a philosophical, inventive and assured debut by writer Saman Shad.” Saman has been a writer in resident at the Hampstead Theatre and the Soho Theatre and has her work read in theatres across London. She also wrote a children’s play for the Hampstead Theatre, as part of the Heat&Light Youth theatre company. In Sydney, Saman wrote an immersive theatre piece for Mongrel Mouth, which was presented at the Rocks Pop up Festival. Her play, The Second Son, was performed in Melbourne in December 2017.
Radio
Saman started her radio career at the BBC, where she was a scriptwriter for the BBC Asian Network’s drama series Silver Street for five years. She also wrote an afternoon play for BBC Radio called Cooking by Heart. She has had a number of short plays performed on BBC Radio. In Australia Saman has been making radio programs for the ABC’s Radio National. Most recently she made a half hour radio documentary about multicultural motherhood called Muminprogress.
Copywriting
In addition to journalistic and creative writing, Saman has significant experience in crafting copy for brands, advertorial and other agencies.
Prose
Saman was a winner of a Penguin short story prize. Her story was published in the Decibel Penguin Anthology - Vol 1. She received Arts Council of England funding to complete her novel, The View from Above. She also received an Arts Council of England mentorship to work on her novel. She has had short stories published in The Tell Tales Anthology Vol 2 and The Noise Anthology.
Saman is currently working on a new memoir exploring multicultural motherhood, based on her Radio documentary, Mum in Progress.
Contact
For any general or media enquiries, please complete the form below. For SBS Voices commissioning enquiries you can contact SBS Voices on twitter on @SBSVoices