Sumayya was born in South Africa during the Apartheid Era. Her debut, The Story of Maha was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Best First Book – Africa) and she has since published the sequel: Maha, Ever After. This year, she served as a Mentor for Writivism 2014 – a pan African literary event that is the brainchild of the Centre for African Cultural Excellence in Uganda – and edited the anthology of Longlisted writers: Fire in the Night and Other Stories. She is currently editing her third novel while daydreaming about books four and five. Sumayya loves reading and eating (preferably on a Durban beach) and hates injustice, Islamophobia, misogyny and February in England.
