Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini or Khalid Husseini (/ˈhɑːlɛd hoʊˈseɪni/; Pashto/Persian: خالد حسینی, Dari: [ˈxɑːlɪd hʊˈsæjniː]; born March 4, 1965) is an Afghan and American novelist, UNHCR goodwill ambassador, and former physician. His debut novel The Kite Runner (2003) was a critical and commercial success; the book and his subsequent novels have all been at least partially set in Afghanistan and have featured an Afghan as the protagonist. Hosseini's novels have spread awareness about Afghanistan's people and culture.

Hosseini was briefly a resident of Iran and France after being born in Kabul, Afghanistan, to a diplomat father. When Hosseini was 15, his family applied for asylum in the United States, where he later became a naturalized citizen. Hosseini did not return to Afghanistan until 2003 when he was 38, an experience similar to that of the protagonist in The Kite Runner. In later interviews, Hosseini acknowledged that he suffered from survivor's guilt for having been able to leave the country prior to the Soviet invasion and subsequent wars.