Zakariya Robinson wins Key Stage One Poetry and Writer of the Year Award

Writer of the year Zakariya Robinson with the chairman Syed Lakhte Hassanain and Hudhayfah Ashraf

Zakariya Robinson, from Rochdale, won the Key Stage One Poetry and Writer of the Year Award with his poem ‘Kenning’ at the Young Muslim Writers Awards 2015 on Saturday 5 December in London.

There were nine trophies awarded in total with a special recognition award for Malala Yousafzai, received by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, and her mother, Toor Pekai Yousafzai.

Ziauddin Yousafzai delivered a speech about the difference between indoctrination and education, the need for women to write and be empowered. He also stated: “Children are not only the future of the Muslim community, they are the future of the UK. Reading and creativity are at the heart of Islam.”

Malala’s parents proudly received a special recognition award on behalf of their daughter, Malala Yousafzai for ‘Championing Children’s Rights to Education’.

The event was hosted by award-winning radio presenter Shemiza Rashid and the awards were presented by Carnegie Medal winner Tim Bowler, novelist and poet Louis de Bernières, who is most popular for his novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Tim Robertson, Director of the Royal Society of Literature, Caryl Hart, an award-winning children’s author, novelist Roopa Farooki, writer and broadcaster Yasmeen Khan and Zara Ayub, a 13-year-old writing sensation.

In his speech, Tim Bowler said: “Writing is not something you ever master. It’s a journey.”

After the event, Louis de Bernières commented: “The whole occasion was well worth attending, my only reservation being that it's probably unwise for me to encourage any future competition.”

The following proud winners took to the stage with a round of applause and received their trophies:

• Writer of the Year Award:
  ‘Kenning’ by Zakariya Robinson (from Rochdale)
• Key Stage 1 Poetry
  ‘Kenning’ by Zakariya Robinson (from Rochdale) 
• Key Stage 1 Short Story
  ‘The Pen with 70,000 Heads’ by Abdul Maatin Riaz (from Bradford) 
• Key Stage 2 Poetry
  Spring, Autumn and Winter’ by Aminah Rahman (from Cambridge)
• Key Stage 2 Short Story
  ‘The Haunted House Strikes Again’ by Myra Durrani (from Birmingham)
• Key Stage 3 Poetry
  ‘Free Dubai’ by Naima Mohamed (from Waltham Forest, London)
• Key Stage 3 Short Story
  ‘Ivory Demons’ by Imaan Maryam Irfan (from Working, Surrey)
• Key Stage 4 Poetry
  ‘A Quilt of Stars’ by Safeerah Mughal (from Bradford) 
• Key Stage 4 Short Story
  ‘Peaceful Sleep’ by Safeerah Mughal

Author, Sufiya Ahmed said: “The Young Muslim Writers Awards encourages parents to champion their children’s writing and to let their talents flourish so they may go forth and become role models and ambassadors for the generation that follow.”

The Young Muslim Writers Awards was set up as a  competition for five – 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 was 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 was broadcast on the Islam Channel, the official media partner of the competition since 2006.