The Young Muslim Writers Awards ceremony, an initiative led by the British Muslim charity, Muslim Hands, took place Saturday, November 30, at the Senate House in London.

With short-listed finalists from across the country in attendance, the awards aim to provide both recognition of creative writing by young British Muslims, as well as to provide a platform to encourage youth to express their creativity.

“We write to 4,000 schools in the UK and we ask children, 5-16 years of age, to write stories, poetry, and blogs, to promote creative writing among young Muslim children. The talent in the Muslim community, the third and fourth generation (of immigrants), for me it is heartening,” said Maqsood Ahmed OBE, Director of UK Projects at Muslim Hands.

“Last year’s winner,” he continued, “we took to Pakistan where we met orphans and deprived children and spoke to them on how to be good writers.”

Writer Of The Year

A number of awards are announced to winners at different stages, with a Writer of the Year going to the best contribution.

The 2019 winner, Amina Dadipatel shared, “I’m ecstatic somewhere. I’m kind of shocked right now. I wrote a short story about a boy and his mother who has just suffered the loss of their father and husband. It’s quite a twisted story about how the little boy found that he killed his father as his father was really abusive, and he hates to see his mother in pain. It’s about how love can drive us towards desperation.”

Speaking of her motivation Amina added, “I’ve always wanted to write. Mum says it’s in my blood. She didn’t get many chances and she’s giving me all of them. She’s encouraging me to do these kinds of things.”