PHOTO: Mehreen Ahmed, the Bangladeshi-born Australian author acclaimed for her lyrical fiction and powerful evocations of history and human nature.
Literary Voice Bridging Continents And Forms
Author Mehreen Ahmed discusses her dream-inspired flash fiction, historical novels, and the emotional truths behind her works, while offering advice for balancing lyrical language with narrative clarity.
Mehreen Ahmed writes from the depths of memory and the intricacies of dream, her prose as much a meditation as it is narrative. Born in Bangladesh and now rooted in Australia, she bridges not only cultures but sensibilities—moving with ease between the lyricism of stream of consciousness and the precision of flash fiction. Her stories, often distilled to crystalline moments, are striking in their ability to evoke vast emotional and historical terrains within just a few lines.
In works like White Moon and Grassbleed, she stretches the boundaries of form, allowing structure to mirror the fluid, elusive nature of memory. Incandescence, a profound reckoning with Bangladesh’s turbulent 1970s, speaks with the authority of lived experience, while The Pacifist, steeped in the Australian Gold Rush, exemplifies her deep research and imaginative scope. Whether drawing from dreams or historical events, Ahmed anchors her narratives in emotional authenticity.
What remains constant through her wide-ranging oeuvre is her quiet insistence on literature’s power—to reflect, to transform, and to endure. With each piece, whether micro or epic, she reaffirms a belief that words, when wielded with integrity and intent, can illuminate the most complex corners of the human condition.
Your latest collection White Moon blends avant‑garde flash fiction with deeper themes. What inspired this experimental structure and how do you decide when a story is best told in flash form?
In White Moon themes were perceived in my dreams. Most of the stories have dream-like affect because I dreamed of some of the stories and tried to fictionalise as best as I could. The stories are of course important but so is the thematic structure which connects a dream to a deeper meaning. For Example, Water Hyacinth portrays the affects of time, how the landscape and history are both subject to the ravages of time, the settings of the past could be different as the individual’s social rank who could be chef in the present and King in the past.
Seedlings, published in 2024, is another micro‑fiction collection. How does it differ thematically or emotionally from White Moon, and did you approach its creation differently?
Seedlings comprise of both long and short fiction. While Some are politically motivated, others are creation of imagination. For example, Musk depicts cruelty of animals and poachers constantly jeopardising animal life. Often, the big boss would be a high-ranking politician overseeing the demise of animals for profit.
Incandescence revisits the historical context of 1970s Bangladesh. How did your personal background influence the depiction of love, betrayal and national identity in that novel?
I was growing up in Dhaka at the time which is the capital of Bangladesh and had witnessed the horrors of a civil war. I had seen love blossoming and being betrayed under the same umbrella because the war as it often is, played all kinds of games with peoples’ lives such as trickery, kidnapping and other horrendous and unmitigated sufferings to boot. The war in a way both traumatised me and also gave me a sense of security to identify myself as a citizen of a new independent land. Most of these found their way into the novel. However, this deeply personal experience also triggered into creating a work of literary fiction.
Grassbleed collects micro and flash fictions. What draws you repeatedly to this concise form, and what unique creative freedom does it offer compared to your longer works?
Concise forms of written works have their own challenge. Although, my leanings are towards writing longer forms such as novels, I challenge myself to write concisely and precisely in order to play with language, and words. It takes a lot of effort to be able to describe anything succinctly.
Your earlier novel The Pacifist received international acclaim and awards. How did the recognition influence your writing trajectory and confidence in tackling subsequent works?
The Pacifist is my first long form novel. Also a historical fiction for which I had to do a lot of research into the 19th century Gold Rush Period in Australia. This put me in the right trajectory to write my second long form novel, Incandescence which too depicts some historical moments. What is decipherable is my penchant to be semi-fictional? They are all works of imagination, however, anchored more or less in some historical truth, gives me more confidence than writing something purely fictional although all fictions are reality of some form, nature of the beast.
Many of your stories interweave cultural identity as a Bangladeshi‑born Australian. How do you balance authenticity and universal emotional appeal in your characters and settings?
Many of the characters are relatable in any culture. Human condition is of utmost importance regardless of the settings and that in my view is universal.
Your works often feature vivid, stream‑of‑consciousness passages (e.g. in “Jacaranda Blues”). How do you craft those lyrical, immersive voice‑driven sections without losing narrative clarity?
I think the mind has a way to work with both lyrical and narrative clarity. These are two separate issues. The plot and the language appear to be inseparable, however, while the language is the tool to weave into the plot; it is a string where the characters and the stories are threaded. However, with different functions, the lyricism exploits the function of describing the plot where poetry may be needed. If not then the language will soliciting a prose-like approach.
What key advice would you offer to aspiring authors hoping to excel in both micro‑fiction and full‑length novels, based on your own creative journey?
Each has its own challenge. But the most important part is the story which has to be solid—avoid fluff and fillers. Be sincere and show your integrity as a writer. Micro or long forms, both depend how well a writer grapples with the language in expertly exploiting a situation. Life is vast, the challenges are huge and gritty as realism itself is; use it skilfully, imaginatively and succinctly.
