Wafa'. Tarnowska

Wafa' Tarnowska was born in Lebanon and has also lived in Australia, India, Poland, Cyprus and the UAE. She currently lives in the UK. Wafa' has held a variety of jobs before becoming full time writer. She was editor of a feminist magazine, a radio broadcaster, a journalist, a language teacher, a head-hunter and a CSR Consultant. She has written 7 children's books and two grownup books which were translated into several languages, including the Award Winning Arabian Nights which won the American Folklore Society Aesop Accolade, the Moonbeam Award Gold Medal Winner and the Smithsonian Magazine Notable Book for Children in 2011. The Paperback edition published in 2012, is now part of the Barefoot Books Independent Readers line. Her latest book, "Nour’s Secret Library" won the 2022 IPPY Gold Award for illustrated children’s books. It won the Gold Nautilus Award for 2023 as well as second place at the Diverse Book Award in the Picture book category in Oct 2023. Nour was featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Times, the Guardian and The Sunday Times as one of the best children’s books of 2022/2023. Nour has also been longlisted for the World Illustration Awards. Its 1,5 minutes long trailer on you tube has been viewed 24,000 times. Wafa' has also translated several children's books from English to Arabic for Mantra Lingua as well as a play for the Edinburgh Festival and documentaries for major TV channels. Wafa' regards her work is a valuable bridge between East and West, helping to break down the stereotypical images that Western people have about the Middle East. Wafa’s great passions in life are writing, translation, story telling and travelling. She goes on holidays to weird and wonderful places. She loves visiting schools and participating in literary festivals in the UK and abroad to meet children and read to them.