About Me
An international civil servant gone rogue
An international civil servant gone rogue
Despite his demanding career, Hani has steadfastly dedicated himself to the craft of writing, a testament to his unwavering commitment to storytelling and capturing the essence of the human experience.
About Me
An international civil servant gone rogue
An international civil servant gone rogue
Despite his demanding career, Hani has steadfastly dedicated himself to the craft of writing, a testament to his unwavering commitment to storytelling and capturing the essence of the human experience.
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A Storyteller, Global Citizen, Communicator, & many other things
Hani Selim is an Egyptian-American author, poet, and storyteller whose life has been shaped by two cities, Cairo, where he was born, and New York, where he came of age, and by the vast, complicated space between them.
He is the author of three works. His debut novel Osama’s Jihad, a groundbreaking exploration of Muslim-American identity, faith, and unconditional love, was first published in April 2019. This April, Hani celebrates its seventh anniversary with the release of its Arabic translation, a personal milestone that marks a new chapter in the novel’s journey. His second novel, A Pyramid Builder, follows an Egyptologist drawn back to Cairo by a discovery that challenges everything he knows.
His most recent work, To Women Past, Present and Future (January 2026), is a collaborative collection of poetry and original illustrations, pairing his words with the artwork of Egyptian-American artist Al-Huda Khamis, and serving as a deeply personal tribute to the women who have shaped his life and his understanding of the world.
Hani writes from the intersection of cultures, faiths, and identities, not as a neutral observer, but as someone who has lived the tensions and the beauty of belonging to more than one world. His work explores faith and doubt, love and loss, identity and displacement, with the honesty of a writer who has put his own life on the page.
Hani Selim is an international civil servant gone rogue. He is the author of the bestseller “Osama’s Jihad.”
Before writing became his full-time vocation, Hani spent over a decade as an international civil servant, working across the United Nations Secretariat, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the UN Peacekeeping Office, and UNFPA’s Arab States Regional Office, among others. He also worked at Meta and Baruch College. His professional life was defined by a commitment to human rights, cross-cultural communication, and the amplification of marginalized voices, values that continue to run through everything he writes. Among his most distinctive contributions during this period was his work at UNFPA, where he served as co-creator and producer of two digital brand ambassadors, Mariam and Nora, and the documentary #AWomanEvenHere, a project that brought the stories of women in crisis and conflict zones to global audiences. It is perhaps no coincidence that his most recent book is a tribute to women.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from The City College of New York and a Master of Arts in Political Science with a focus on Human Rights from Long Island University.
In 2022, Hani returned to Cairo after three decades abroad. What began as a visit became something more, a reconnection with roots he had carried quietly his entire life. He now writes from Egypt, a country whose history, contradictions, and quiet resilience continue to shape everything he puts on the page. His work has been recognized by the Aqalam Foundation for Culture, Arts and Development, and has been covered by Al-Ahram, Egypt’s most prominent daily newspaper, among other publications.
He is, in his own words, an international civil servant gone rogue.