Attia Hosain (1913–1998) was a British-Indian novelist, author, writer, broadcaster, journalist and actor.She was a woman of letters and a diasporic writer. She wrote in English although her mother tongue was Urdu.She wrote the semi-autobiographical Sunlight on a Broken Column and a collection of short stories named Phoenix Fled. Her career began in England in semi-exile making a contribution to post-colonial literature. Anita Desai, Vikram Seth, Aamer Hussein and Kamila Shamsie have acknowledged her influence. Books by Attia Hosain Phoenix Fled Sunlight on a Broken Column