Zakariya Robinson shortlisted in Young Muslim Writers Awards 2015

Young Muslim Writers Awards 2015

Zakariya Robinson, from Rochdale, has been shortlisted in the Key Stage 1 Poetry category for the Young Muslim Writers Awards 2015.

A total of forty poems and short stories written by children between the ages of 5 and 16 have been shortlisted.

Winners for each category will be announced at a formal ceremony in London on the 5 December 2015.

The young writers’ submissions have been assessed by a diverse panel of judges including Carnegie Medal winner Tim Bowler and novelist and poet Louis de Bernières who is most popular for his novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.

Feedback from the judges has been excellent and they are very enthusiastic about the awards. Children’s author Neil Arksey comments about the entries “Each of these writers shows terrific promise and talent. They should all be very proud of their achievement in being selected for the award.”

Other judges on the panel are Ahmed Masoud, Andrew Cowan, Anne Cassidy, Brian Keaney, Caryl Hart, Fawzia Gilani Williams, Gillian Clarke, Helen Walsh, Hifzha Shaheen, Karen Lynn Williams, Laila Ibrahim, Leila Aboulela, Nick Barlay, Pinky Lilani, Robert Crawford, Roopa Farooki, Rukhsana Khan, Selma Dabbagh, Shahida Rahman, Shelina Janmohamed, Shemiza Rashid, Simon Brett, Sufiya Ahmed, Sumayya Lee, Susan Bassnett, Tommy A-Man Evans, Umm Jawayriah, Umm Zakiyyah, Wendy Cope and Yahiya Emerick.

The Young Muslim Writers Awards was set up as a standalone competition for 5 – 16 year olds in 2010, following its success as part of Muslim Hands’ Muslim Writers Awards. Since then, it has encouraged and nurtured the writing talents of thousands of children through creative writing workshops and the annual competition.

For the third consecutive year, the ceremony is presented in association with the Yusuf Islam Foundation, an umbrella organisation which has over thirty years of experience operating in education, community development and philanthropy. The ceremony will be broadcast on Islam Channel, the official media partner of the competition since 2006.