Khaled Hosseini was born in Afghanistan and lived in Iran and France as a child while his father served as a diplomat.  The family was living in Paris when Afghanistan's government was overthrown and the country was occupied by the Soviet Union.  His family could not return home.

The family immigrated to the United States in 1980.  Hosseini was 15 years old and spoke almost no English.  In his first year of school in the U.S., Khaled struggled, but his encounter with John Steinbeck’s Depression-era novel The Grapes of Wrath rekindled his love of literature, and he began to write stories in English. 

Khaled’s father found work as a driving instructor, and the family’s situation gradually improved, but Khaled, as the oldest child, felt a particular responsibility to succeed in the new country.  He went to college and medical school, married, and set up his medical practice.  During this time, he continued to write stories, and eventually with the encouragement of his wife Roya and father in law, he expanded one of his stories into what would become the international phenomenon The Kite Runner.  By 2005 The Kite Runner had reached the NYT Bestseller list and in 2007 it was made into a major motion picture.  His next novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, sold over 1 million copies in its first week.

Hosseini is currently a full time writer and UN Ambassador.  Click the link for videos about Hosseini's humanitarian work and writing interviews.

Click here to visit Khaled Hosseini's author page on A Thousand Splendid Suns.