The Clinging Thing
Australia

The Clinging Thing

by Munira Tabassum Ahmed

Family & Heritage Literary Fiction 2026

Summary

After the loss of a pregnancy, Iqra returns to her mother’s home in the place where she grew up, seeking a way forward while struggling with grief and the weight of memory. As she revisits the stories of her parents and the generations of women who came before her, the boundaries between past and present begin to blur. Memories, dreams, and uncertainties intertwine as Iqra confronts the complicated ties that bind families together.

Set within a Bangladeshi-Australian cultural context, The Clinging Thing explores motherhood, inherited expectations, faith, and the obligations we feel toward those who shaped our lives. Through Iqra’s return to her roots, Munira Tabassum Ahmed examines the tension between honouring family history and finding the freedom to define one’s own future. Poetic and introspective, the novel reflects on grief, intergenerational relationships, and the possibility of discovering wonder even when the future remains uncertain.

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Country
Australia
Oceania
About the author
Munira Tabassum Ahmed
Munira Tabassum Ahmed

Munira Tabassum Ahmed is a writer and poet whose work explores memory, identity, and the complexities of human relationships. Her writing has appeared in a range of literary publications and anthologies, including Best of Australian Poems, Pleiades, The Adroit Journal, Meanjin, Australian Poetry Journal, Liminal, and Cordite Poetry Review. In 2022, Ahmed was awarded the Kat Muscat Fellowship, which supports emerging women and non-binary writers. Her debut novel, The Clinging Thing, was published by Penguin in 2026. Centring on a woman returning to her childhood home after pregnancy loss, the novel explores grief, faith, motherhood, and the legacies passed between generations of women. Ahmed’s work brings Bangladeshi-Australian experiences and Western Sydney into contemporary literary fiction.

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Details
Published
2026
Author
Munira Tabassum Ahmed