Roshni, Sunnah, Sheena, and Sharan are poets and performers who make up the collective 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE. They are a poetry sisterhood based in London. They have published a book, a zine and will each have a pamphlet published by Rough Trade Books in September 2020.

Tasneem Abdur-Rashid is a British Bengali writer born and raised in London. A mother of two, Tasneem has worked across media, PR and communications both in the UK and in the UAE. Today, Tasneem spends her days working in PR for a national charity and her nights studying for her Masters – and in between, she’s busy trying (and often failing) to be super mum, super wife and super chef. She also co-hosts an award-winning podcast called Not Another Mum Pod. Having previously published a bestselling novel under a pseudonym, Finding Mr Not-so-bad is Tasneem’s first book written under her own name.

Sofia Akel is an education activist and researcher, campaigning and leading work to tackle institutional racism in education. Currently, she is leading London Metropolitan University’s race equity work for the Centre of Equity and Inclusion, as well as working in a number of public facing roles such as: journalism, historical and race-related research and consultancy. She also founded the Free Book Campaign – a community interest company which aims to provide books by authors of colour to those who cannot access them due to financial or other systemic barriers.

Paula is a journalist, speaker and founding director of Black Girl Festival and co-founder of the ‘I’m Tired’ Project’ a photography campaign and international workshop programme. Paula’s work – mainly focuses on race, queerness, and social politics and she regularly writes for a variety of publications including Teen Vogue, The Independent, Stylist and Al Jazeera.

Nafisa is the CEO of Amaliah.com and Halal Gems. In Feb 2019, her essay on the representation of Muslim women in media was published in “It’s Not About The Burqa”, an Amazon bestseller. Nafisa’s work gained recognition in Forbes 30 under 30, Ad Age Women to Watch 2019, Evening Standard Progress 1000 Most Influential in Media, FT & Inclusive Boards #IB100 Bame Leaders and Kindness in Leadership supported by Unilever.

Khairani Barokka is a writer and artist from Jakarta, whose work has been presented in 16 countries. She is currently Researcher in Residence and Research Fellow at UAL’s Decolonising Arts Institute, and Associate Artist at the National Centre for Writing (UK). Among her honours, she has been a UNFPA Indonesian Young Leader Driving Social Change, and an NYU Tisch Departmental Fellow, Modern Poetry in Translation’s Inaugural Poet in Residence. Her books are Rope (Nine Arches) and Indigenous Species (Tilted Axis), and she is co-editor of Stairs and Whispers: D/deaf and Disabled Poets Write Back (Nine Arches).

Deirdre is a multi-media journalist for the BBC. She joined in 2012 and has had stints in the BBC’s Brussels, Westminster and Washington bureaux. Her work has been recognised by the British Journalism Awards and shortlisted for the Amnesty and One World Media Awards. Deirdre has a keen interest in stories about social affairs and inequality. Originally from Ireland, she now lives and works in London.

Hanna is a London-based critic, journalist and broadcaster writing on arts, culture and issues of diversity and representation within the entertainment industry. She is the co-chair of Time’s Up UK Critic Circle and a member of the London’s Critic Circle Film Section. Her work has been published by The Guardian, Empire, British GQ, Elle magazine, paper and BBC Culture among others. She is of mixed British and Tunisia heritage.

Joy’s diverse career covers journalism, policy development, academia, executive coaching, digital enterprise, curation, production, film, PR and creative entrepreneurship, both here and abroad. She is the founder and executive director of Words of Colour Productions, co-founder and lead of Digital Women UK and also a co-founder and co-director of the award-winning Synergi Collaborative Centre.

Nicola Garrard spent fifteen years teaching in challenging schools in London where she worked with both the victims and perpetrators of knife crime. She is a lesbian and a parent of three children with English and Indian-Trinidadian heritage. She writes poetry, YA and adult fiction. Her poetry was awarded a prize by Carol Ann Duffy in the 2018 PBS Poetry Competition. Her debut novel, Twenty-Nine Locks, was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize 2019. It will be published by Hope Road in June 2021.

Nadia is a writer and story consultant with a repertoire of stage, screen and online scripts, page and performance poetry, articles, blogs and essays land marking her career. Her work has been commissioned by institutions such as Manchester’s Contact Theatre, the BBC, Kori Arts and the BFI. She is the founder of Scribble Ink – a story consultancy dedicated to mentoring writers throughout their creative process. Her deep and abiding interest in the fusion of literature and new technologies shapes her passion as an avid short-story writer who sees the cross-pollination of digital media and traditional art forms as ‘millennial punk.’

Nadia is a London born Pakistani writer and yoga teacher. A hard-news journalist, she has appeared in Metro, MailOnline, The Independent, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Huffington Post and Dazed and Confused. Nadia left news desks to work as a communications manager at petition’s website Change.org and crowdfunding platform GoFundMe. She is currently working on a book of non-fiction.

Mireille is an award-winning editor, writer, sensitivity reader and PR. She heads up Square Peg, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK, is the author of Timelines from Black History and has contributed to Timelines of Everyone, The Black History Book, Migrations (all DK) and This Is How We Come Back Stronger (And Other Stories). Her work has been published in British Vogue, Digital Spy, Good Housekeeping, Nation of Billions, GUAP, Nataal and more. Mireille has worked with Punch Records, BYP Network, Content is Queen and Bad Form on press campaigns.

Lizzie Huxley-Jones is a writer and editor based in London. They can be found editing at independent micropublisher 3 of Cups Press, and advising writers as a freelance sensitivity reader and consultant. In their past career lives, they have been a research diver, a children’s bookseller and digital communications specialist. They tweet too much at @littlehux, taking breaks to walk their dog Nerys.

Sophie’s debut novel Wild Fires (spring 2021) is the 2019 winner of The Borough Press & The Good Literary Agency’s open submission competition. Sophie was born and raised in Trinidad and grew up in Toronto, Canada. She is a 2020 Visiting Fellow and Writer-in-Residence at Oxford University, and Sangam House. She has studied with Olive Senior at the Humber School for Writers in Toronto.

Zara Janjua is a journalist, presenter and screenwriter. She won a spot in the BBC Comedy Writersroom 2020, The BBC Children’s Indie Mentorship Writersroom 2021 and ITV Comedy 50:50’s Female Pilot Club 2021. Zara was also shortlisted for the Funny Women Comedy Writing Award 2020. She was a finalist for The Women of The Future Award and is currently working on several screenplay commissions.

Eleni Kyriacou was born and raised in London to Greek Cypriot parents. She’s an award-winning editor and journalist and she has appeared in publications such as the Guardian, the Observer, Marie Claire and Red and Stella. She’s written on a wide range of topics including adoption, relationships, travel, self-development, the arts and women’s health. Her first novel She Came to Stay is published by Hodder in 2020.

Elijah Lawal is a writer, communications manager and spokesperson for Google. His debut book The Clapback: Your Guide to Calling Out Racist Stereotypes was published by Hodder in June 2019.

Frances Mensah Williams is an award-winning author, Human Resources/Business Consultant, and Executive Coach. The founder and Chief Executive of Interims for Development, a UK-based Human Resources, training, and coaching consultancy, she has consulted on and led projects in the UK and for international clients in Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and other parts of Africa. She is also the founder and Managing Editor of ReConnect Africa.com and was awarded a CBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List for services to the African community in the UK and in Africa.

Yen Ooi is a writer-researcher whose works explore cultural storytelling and its effects on identity. She is currently working towards her PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London, specialising in the development of Chinese science fiction by diaspora writers and writers from Chinese-speaking nations. She is also author of Sun: Queens of Earth (novel) and A Suspicious Collection of Short Stories and Poetry (collection). When she’s not writing, Yen lectures at Westminster University’s MA Creative Writing course, and is a mentor in marketing and publishing.

After graduating from Slade School of Fine Art with a 1st, Bronwen has produced and directed films for Channel 4, BBC, The New York Times, Tate, Christies, Nowness, Vice, and has exhibited her films and photography worldwide.

The Whale Tattoo is Jon Ransom’s first novel. Winner of the National Centre for Writing 2019 Escalator mentoring scheme for early career fiction writers. Jon was the recipient of an Arts Council England TLC Free Reads Prize, and an excerpt of his writing was selected for the inaugural TLC Free Reads Anthology. In 2018 Jon was awarded an Arvon grant to attend the residential course Fiction: Work in Progress. His short stories have appeared in SAND Journal, Foglifter Press and Five:2:One, among others. Jon’s writings have been nominated for Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and 2019 Lambda Literary LGBTQ Anthology. Jon grew up in Norfolk and is currently at work on his second novel.

Eva Verde is a writer from Forest Gate, East London. She is of dual heritage. Identity and class are recurring themes throughout her work and her memoir piece, I Am Not Your Tituba forms part of Kit De Waal’s Common People: An Anthology of Working-Class Writers published by Unbound. An early incarnation of Eva’s first full length work of fiction Little Lives Like Mine was longlisted for the inaugural Comedy Women in Print Prize, 2019.

Eva lives in Essex with her husband, three children and passive-aggressive elderly black Labrador.

Scarlett is a sixteen-year-old leading climate justice activist. Aged thirteen, she became the youngest person in the world to achieve an A-level in Government and Politics. She was selected as one of Greenpeace’s ‘30 under 30’ activists and is the 2020 recipient of the Women of the Future Young Star award. Scarlett is a leading member of the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN), Head of Political Engagement for the ‘Teach the Future’ campaign and was the keynote speaker at the 2020 International Women’s Day march in London. Her work has been published in the Independent, i-D, the Metro, gal-dem magazine and Verso, amongst others.

Hafsa Zayyan is a co-winner of the inaugural 2019 New Writer’s Prize. Her debut fiction novel, We are all Birds of Uganda, explores themes of belonging, generational divides, race and faith, and will be published by Penguin Random House (Merky Books) in July 2020. Hafsa currently works as a dispute resolution lawyer in central London.