Historical fiction has long been my literary home, especially stories rooted in Indian history. I'm drawn to fiction that preserves memory, asks difficult questions, and reminds us that history is, above all, made up of human lives.

 

By day, I'm the Reading Lead at a secondary school in West London. At its heart, my role is about helping young people discover the power of reading and how it can help them unlock the curriculum. It's a way of understanding themselves and the world around them. Every student arrives with a different story, so I meet them there: finding books that resonate with their lives and nurturing a love of reading, and helping them access the wider school subjects through stories that speak to them. I believe books should be both mirrors in which we recognise ourselves and windows through which we come to understand others.

 

My curiosity about why stories matter has shaped not only my writing but my career. It has inspired my research into teenage reading habits in the digital age, which was recognised and awarded by the National Literacy Trust and led me to complete a National Professional Qualification in Leading Literacy.

More than any qualification, it's a lifetime of reading and countless conversations with young readers that have shaped the way that I think about stories.

 

Storytelling has always found its way into my life. Some of the stories from my debut short story collection have been performed in spaces such as the V&A Museum, the British Library and the Union Chapel.