Achievements
Here are some of my recent writing achievements.
Develop your Creative Practice award, 2021
I received funding to write my memoir, provisionally entitled Lost for Words. This will deal with some of the material covered in Northern Boy, but also look at the stammer I had as a child amid the backdrop of simmering racial tensions in the town. I am being mentored by Jason Donald, author of Choke Chain, which was shortlisted for the Saltire First Book of the Year.
Megaphone Writer Development Scheme, 2021-22
I am one of seven writers chosen for this mentoring scheme for writers of colour working on children's books. I will be working on my novel "Djollywood", a Middle Grade fantasy set in a colourful, noisy, Bollywoodesque world peopled by djinns.
Leicester Writes Short Story Prize, 2021
My story "The Boy with the Green Eyes", based on material from Northern Boy, was longlisted and will be published in an anthology in September 2021.
MAINSTREAM, by Inkandescent, 2020
I am one of 15 emerging writers to be included in this anthology of "stories from the edge". My story, "The Reluctant Bride", is a ghostly tale set in rural Pakistan. The book also features 15 established writers, including Kerry Hudson (Lowborn) and Kit de Waal (My Name is Leon).
Creative Future Writers Awards, 2019
I won Gold for my short story “A Home from Home”, which is based on material from my novel Northern Boy. The story was published in an anthology, called Home.
London Writers Awards, 2018
I am an alumnus of the inaugural London Writers' Awards, a year-long mentoring programme run by the London writing agency Spread the Word.