Mohamed Ismith Khan, better known as Ismith Khan, was a Trinidad and Tobago-born American author and educator.
18 Facts About Ismith Khan
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Ismith Khan is best known for his novel The Jumbie Bird, a semi-autobiographical work which blends Indian and Afro-Caribbean mythology and experience to explore the creation of a new Indo-Caribbean identity.
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Ismith Khan was born to Faiez and Zinab Khan in Port of Spain, to a Muslim family of Indian Pathan descent.
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Ismith Khan later moved to Trinidad and Tobago, where he established a jewellery business.
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Ismith Khan lived with his son Faiez and his family when Ismith was a child, and inspired one of the main characters in The Jumbie Bird.
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Ismith Khan attended Queen's Royal College, where he completed the Cambridge School Certificate and graduated in 1945.
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Ismith Khan returned to Trinidad and Tobago in 1948 and took a job as a reporter at the Trinidad Guardian newspaper at the recommendation of Sam Selvon.
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Ismith Khan had met Selvon in 1941 when Ismith Khan's sister, Betty, and Selvon's brother, Dennis, were married.
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Ismith Khan considered his friendship with Selvon to be "the single most powerful influence on him becoming a writer".
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Ghose encouraged Ismith Khan to apply for a tuition scholarship to Michigan State University, and in the fall of 1948 Ismith Khan left Trinidad and Tobago to pursue a degree in sociology.
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Ismith Khan completed his course work, but was unable to graduate because he was unwilling to take a course in physical education, which the degree required.
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In 1952, two courses short of a degree, Ismith Khan transferred to The New School for Social Research in New York, where he completed his degree in sociology.
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Originally interested in journalism, Ismith Khan took several fiction-writing workshops at The New School, which prompted him to pursue fiction instead of journalism.
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In 1964 Ismith Khan met Vera Reichler and became romantically involved with her.
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Ismith Khan taught at The New School and Johns Hopkins University between 1955 and 1970.
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Salick considers the underlying character to be folkloric, and "possibly real", and notes that Ismith Khan is the only one who gives the character a complete backstory.
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Ismith Khan's work is notable for his use of Trinidadian dialect and his ability to capture its speech patterns.
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The themes of Ismith Khan's work are "firmly grounded in Trinidad"; he wrote of the Indian experience in the Caribbean and the relationships between ethnic groups in this racially diverse region.