Autumn 2023 Alumni
Dr Maxine Meju
WriterDr Maxine Meju is a British-Nigerian junior psychiatrist and non-fiction writer. She spent six years at the University of Cambridge, graduating with distinction in her medical degree and earning a second degree in pharmacology. Maxine is currently working on her memoir, I Can’t Sleep: An Insomniac Psychiatrist’s Story of an Unjust System, which explores racial inequalities in mental health care through a blend of personal narrative, professional case studies, and rigorous research. Her recent essay on the barriers to mental health support for survivors of intimate-partner violence from racially minoritised backgrounds was highly commended by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in their annual Women’s Prize.
Beyond her medical and writing career, Maxine is a certified yoga teacher and regularly leads yoga sessions in London for NHS staff.
Adeela Khan
WriterAdeela Khan
Adeela Khan was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. She read English Language & Literature at the University of Oxford and then completed a Graduate Diploma in Law, after which she spent seven years working as a Solicitor specialising in commercial litigation at a global firm in London. Adeela is an avid reader with a particular interest in literary and upmarket fiction. Her own writing often features dark, complicated protagonists and relationships and explores ideas of cultural identity and belonging. Adeela’s short fiction has been published by OrangesJournal (‘Chickens’; 2024) and she is currently working on her debut novel: a character-driven story of familial estrangement and obsessive desire set between Pakistan and England. Based on an extract of this novel, Adeela has been shortlisted for the #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize 2024/2025.
Tajah Hamilton
WriterTajah Hamilton is a Black, queer non-binary London-born writer and poet. They were shortlisted under fiction for the #Merky New Writers prize in its inaugural 2019 year and were in the Roundhouse Poetry Slam heats of the same year. They have since performed their poetry for charities and fundraisers.
Tajah’s writing deals with mental health, love, and the bonds that hold us together, despite forces trying to keep us apart. They are currently working on a multi-narrator novel that deals with identities at the crossroads and the effect that the mental health system has on racialised bodies in the UK.
Nosa Novia
WriterNosa Novia is a Lagos-born British fiction writer and poet. She holds a BA (Hons) in Film and Literature and an MA in Writing from the University of Warwick, earning distinction in both degrees. She is an alumna of several writing development programs, including the 2023 Curtis Brown Breakthrough x Ballad and the 2024 A Writing Chance program by New Writing North. Nosa is currently working on an environmental sci-fi novel set in West Africa and a historical fiction piece set in a Benin harem. She is the founder of The Reclaim Collective, a social enterprise that supports poets from marginalised backgrounds. Nosa loves to read stories that challenge her understanding of prose and genre.
Sukanya Choudhury
WriterSukanya Choudhury is a social media based writer from the beautiful city of Guwahati in India. She is used to moving houses every 2 years due to her military background and currently calls London her home. When she’s not working as a Copywriter and Senior Data Quality Specialist at Cohere, she can be usually found reading books and writing with a large cup of tea by her side. The knowledge and experience that HarperCollins’ Author Academy has provided Sukanya with is paramount and she hopes this will provide more spaces for queer and ethnic minorities in the publishing industry. Her writing is mostly deeply personal, inspired by her loved ones and home, and comes with a specific focus on feminist themes, queer allyship, and raising awareness about the issues minorities battle with. She has previously published an anthology of poems titled 2 am Ramblings and a Cup of Ginger Tea.
Shahmir Khan Ghani
WriterShahmir Khan Ghani is a Pakistani writer, born and raised in his homeland. He moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, studying under the tutelage of Nathan Filer, Philip Hensher and Gavin James. Since graduating, Shahmir has taught creative writing across various workshops, and delivered the 2024 Bath Spa creative writing anthology, titled Ampersand, becoming the first non-British person to do so. His writing explores themes of love, loss, and grief, and focuses on the intricate complexities present within the relationships people share. Shahmir’s work has been shortlisted for the Janklow and Nesbit Award, and has been published in Ampersand. He is currently working on his debut novel, Eternal; a tale of familial love forged by blood and shaped through adversity, beginning in the vibrant city of Lahore, Pakistan.
Natalie Clark
WriterNatalie is a half-Malaysian British creative, who grew up in Hong Kong and London, studied in China and spends every moment she can in Kuala Lumpur. Having worked in digital publishing her entire career, Natalie’s true passion lies in YA and middle-grade fantasy fiction. She loves to write stories for mixed-race kids, full of magic, adventure, challenges and friendship. Stories where readers will meet characters that are just like them, exploring identity and seeking that sense of belonging. Her MG novel sees a young girl find herself in a wondrous realm, where being of mixed magical heritage is forbidden.
Ayesha Bibi
WriterAyesha Bibi
Ayesha was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and raised in London from the age of three. She graduated from SOAS University with a Global Literature degree and her love for storytelling led to writing short stories for anthologies and articles for The Guardian Children’s Books site. She is passionate about diverse narratives, which inspired her to launch Mustaqbil, a podcast exploring Pakistani representation in media. Having worked in various fields, from tutoring to journalism to film, Ayesha is now a senior operations manager, completing an MBA. Through her first romance novel, Rumi’s Cafe, she aims to showcase South Asian stories as fun and relatable against the vibrant backdrop of her heritage.
Fatima Said
WriterFatima Said
Fatima Said was born in Saudi Arabia to Egyptian parents. She began writing from a young age and has been twice shortlisted for the #Merky Books’ New Writers’ Prize. She moved to London with her family when she was six and has lived there ever since. Fatima has a particular interest in literary fiction and her work deals with themes of migration, identity, political upheaval, love, and resilience. She’s very fond of flawed female characters and cats. Inspired by the extraordinary true stories of her grandmother and mother, Fatima is currently crafting a multi-generational novel that delves into her family’s experiences navigating political upheaval in Egypt.
Sidratul Kazi
WriterSidratul Kazi is a British-Bangladeshi writer, born and raised in Birmingham, UK. She has a BSc degree in Psychology, and is in the process of obtaining her MSc degree in Health Psychology. Sidratul’s love for reading books and her childhood dream of being a writer were revived in 2021, after binge-watching Netflix’s show Shadow & Bone. She is currently writing, what she hopes will be, her debut, fantasy YA novel A Cloud in Tomorrow’s Storm. The story is centred around the adventures of an Alchemist-in-training, who finds herself befriending a Chosen One prophesised to be the ruination of their realm.