Sufiya Ahmed is a new Puffin author whose novel Secrets of the Henna Girl will be published in March 2012. The book is about a British teenager’s ordeal when faced with a forced marriage.
Sufiya is also the author of the Zahra series: Zahra’s First Term at the Khadija Academy, Zahra’s Great Debate, Zahra’s Trip to Misr and the eagerly awaited Zahra’s Second Year at the Khadija Academy. The series, published by BIBI Publishing, follows the life of British Muslim teenager Zahra Khan and her friends at a boarding school. A fun and mischievous read for 8–12 year olds, the books are peppered with successful and powerful female figures from Islamic history.
Sufiya previously worked in the Houses of Parliament but now spends her time visiting schools all over the country. She loves to perform book readings and also delivers creative writing workshops to budding young authors.
In 2010 she set up the BIBI Foundation, a non-profit organisation, to arrange visits to the Houses of Parliament for diverse and deprived school children.