MEE T THE JUDGES AHMED JAFFERALI VERSI
is the publisher and editor of The Muslim News. Ahmed has interviewed world leaders including the late President of Bosnia Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegovic, the late Aslan Maskhadov of Chechnya, Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, the Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, the Rt. Hon. David Cameron the Rt. Hon. Theresa May, and the Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson, and HRH The Prince of Wales. During the first Gulf War, Ahmed was part of a British Muslim delegation to Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia mediating for the release of British hostages. In March 2000 Ahmed launched The Muslim News Awards for Excellence celebrating Muslim achievements. He established the Muslim Women’s Sport Foundation and was until recently Deputy President of the International Islamic Women’s Games. A regular speaker at international conferences covering Islamic issues at the local and global level, Ahmed focuses on media representation. Ahmed was awarded Honorary Doctorate of Arts in recognition of achievements as Editor of The Muslim News from the University of Bedfordshire in 2007. He was ranked among the top 20 most powerful Asians in the British media by The Guardian.
A. M. DASSU
is an award winning writer of both non-fiction and fiction including the internationally acclaimed novel Boy, Everywhere which is one of The Guardian’s, Bookriot’s, BookTrust’s, and CLPE’s Best Children’s Books of 2020 and has been given a coveted star review from Kirkus, Booklist, and Publisher’s Weekly in the US. She is Deputy Editor of SCBWI-BI’s magazine, Words & Pictures, and a Director of Inclusive Minds, an organisation which champions inclusion, diversity, equality, and accessibility in children’s literature. She is also patron of The Other Side of Hope, a print and online literary magazine, edited by immigrants and refugees which serves to celebrate the refugee and immigrant communities. She is one of The National Literacy Trust’s Connecting Stories campaign authors which aims to help inspire a love of reading and writing in children and young people. Previously, she has worked in project management, marketing, and editorial. Her work has been published by The Huffington Post, Times Educational Supplement, SCOOP Magazine, Lee and Low Books, DK Books, and Harper Collins.
30
