The Transatlantic Agency announced this morning that Khaled Hosseini, one of the most widely read and beloved novelists in the world, with 55 million copies of his books sold in over 62 languages, has signed with Samantha Haywood for international rights representation.
“Khaled Hosseini’s masterful novels are arguably more necessary and important than ever before. I am thrilled and honored to be working with Khaled to help bring new generations of readers from around the world to his impactful stories and unforgettable characters,” Haywood said. “Khaled’s novels truly exemplify the power of reading and literature to help us understand and hopefully change the world for the better page by page.”
Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. His father was a diplomat in the Afghan Foreign Ministry and his mother taught Farsi and history at a high school in Kabul. In 1976, the Foreign Ministry relocated the Hosseini family to Paris. They were ready to return to Kabul in 1980, but by then their homeland had witnessed a bloody communist coup and the invasion of the Soviet Army. The Hosseinis sought and were granted political asylum in the United States, and in September 1980 moved to San Jose, California. Hosseini graduated from high school in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1988. The following year he entered the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, where he earned a medical degree in 1993. He completed his residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and was a practicing internist between 1996 and 2004.
In March 2001, while practicing medicine, Hosseini began writing his first novel, The Kite Runner, which was published by Riverhead Books in 2003. That stunning debut launched one of the biggest literary careers of our time. The novel became a major film grossing over $73 million in box office sales, and was named Book of the Decade by The Times, Daily Telegraph and The Guardian. It was adapted for the stage and is currently running on Broadway, as of July 2022. Today, Khaled Hosseini is one of the most recognized and bestselling authors in the world, with publications that include the acclaimed novels A Thousand Splendid Suns, And the Mountains Echoed, and Sea Prayer.
In 2006 Khaled was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Inspired by a trip he made to Afghanistan with the UNHCR, he later established The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. He lives in Northern California with his wife and two children.
Transatlantic Agency is a leading literary management company with a vibrant team literary agents based in cities across North America, including New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Vancouver, and Toronto. Transatlantic Agency offers full-service international representation for storytellers in books, speaking, TV/film and select screenwriters. Notable clients include Iain Reid, Marissa Stapley, Katherena Vermette, MG Vassanji, Karma Brown, Jesse Thistle, Zoe Whittall, Samra Habib, and Catherine Hernandez. Transatlantic Agency is recognized in the industry for its sales success and its reputation for integrity, passion, and commitment. Transatlantic represents more than 700 clients for adult trade and children’s literature, ranging from commercial to literary across all genres for fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels and picture books, which regularly appear on prestigious bestseller and award lists, including the New York Times, the National Book Award, the Newbery Medal, and the Scotiabank Giller Prize.