Qaisra Shahraz Speaker | Creative & Lifestyle & Careers & Assemblies and Celebrations Events & Teacher CPD

Qaisra Shahraz

Awarding winning international author, arts and culture champion, educationist and peace ambassador who passionately celebrates diversity and fights for women's rights

Qaisra Shahraz MBE JP FRSA is a British-Pakistani award-winning and critically acclaimed novelist and scriptwriter. She is the founder and executive director of Muslim Arts and Culture Festival and Muslim Women’s Arts Foundation. She has been running MACFEST, a highly successful and award-winning international festival since 2017. Born in Pakistan, she has lived in Manchester (UK) since childhood and gained two Masters Degrees in English & European literature and scriptwriting for television. In 2016 Qaisra won the prestigious National Diversity Lifetime Achiever Award for "Services to Literature, Education, Gender and Interfaith Activism".

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a former Director of Gatehouse Books, Asia Pacific Writers, and Translators partnership. Her novels, The Holy Woman (2001), Typhoon (2003) and Revolt (2013) are translated into several languages including in Mandarin. "The Holy Woman" was 'Best Book of the Month' at Waterstones and become a bestseller in Indonesia and Turkey. Her two collections of stories A Pair of Jeans & Other Stories (2013) and The Concubine & The Slave Catcher; stories from around the world (2017) includes stories written over 25 years. Her novels and her first story A Pair of Jeans and Escape are being studied in schools and Universities including in Germany.

A critical analysis of her works has been done in a book entitled The Holy and the Unholy: Critical Essays on Qaisra Shahraz’s Fiction (2011). She has co-authored a literary textbook with Rudolf Rau entitled, Emerging India for German teachers. She is working on her latest novel set in Morocco.

She has appeared in many international writers’ festivals and book fairs including in Ubud, Makassar, Abu Dhabi, London, Ottawa, Jaipur, Philadelphia and Beijing. Her award-winning drama serial Dil Hee To Hai was broadcast on Pakistani Television in 2003. Several of her prize-winning short stories are published in the UK and abroad.

Qaisra has won several awards, including the prestigious National Diversity, Lifetime Achiever Award for services to ‘Literature, Education, Gender and Interfaith Relationships’ (2016) and an MBE for Services to Gender Equality and Cultural Learning (2020). In 2018, she gained the University of Salford, Alumni Achievement Award for achieving distinction in her multiple careers and contributions to the arts and community cohesion. In 2021 she gained the She Inspires Award, under the category of Culture Champion. For MACFEST she has gained Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (2021), British Muslim Awards (2019), High Sheriff Award (2020) and commendation award from University of Manchester ‘For Making a Difference’ (2019).

In 2017, Qaisra was recognised by ‘Lovin Manchester’ as number 1 in a list of 50 Most Influential Women in Manchester, and is one of 100 influential Pakistani women in Pakistan Power 100 List and included in the Muslim Power 100 list (2018). In 2019 she was recognised as one of 11 extraordinary women from Manchester by Manchester Metropolitan University. In 2022 her work was recognised again on International Women Day, as Ever Forward: 9 Women Making Change in Greater Manchester.

Qaisra Shahraz has enjoyed another successful career in education as an Ofsted inspector, a quality manager, consultant and teacher trainer, including working under the auspices of the British Council.

For the last 20 years she has devoted a lot of her time and energies to interfaith activities to promote messages of tolerance, peace and community cohesion in the UK and abroad through her literary tours. She is a trustee of Manchester Young Lives, Muslim Jewish Forum and We Stand Together Manchester Multi Faith Centre, and former Co-Chair of Faith Network 4 Manchester and valued partner of New York’s Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. She is a gender champion and herefforts to promote women's rights and work on gender issues continues.

In 2022 she set up Muslim Women’s Arts Foundation and hosted a Muslim Women’s Arts festival under the auspices of Muslim Women’s Arts Foundation. She has interviewed over 100 Muslim women from around the world in 35 hours of recorded interviews to celebrate their diversity and debunk stereotyped myths about Muslim women.

Qaisra Shahraz has recently been voted the most influential women in Manchester - Click here to view the link

Testimonials from Teachers

"Qaisra Shahraz has been invited as a guest speaker at the universities I was teaching at several times, in 2007 and in 2012. On one occasion, she gave an author’s reading of her novels and in particular of her short story “A Pair of Jeans”, which is on the English curriculum of upper-secondary schools in several federal states in Germany. Qaisra talked about writing as a profession and gave some insights into the publishing industry. Students were thus able to gain first hand information from her about her personal process of writing and the systemic aspects of literary publication. On both occasions Qaisra engaged superbly with the students and teachers and was very well able to relate to them. Her sessions were extremely efficient and worthwhile from an academic and a literary point of view."

– Prof. Dr. Karin Vogt

"It was delight to host Qaisra Shahraz, for an author event at Whalley Range High School. The literary event linked very well to International Women’s week, and being an all girl’s school, the students learnt a lot from the session. She talked about her multiple careers in writing, publishing, education, inspection and peace work- all was inspirational. In particular, she promoted a love of reading, literature, and raised awareness about women’s lives- particularly Muslim women. As an interfaith peace activist, she promoted respect for other faiths and cultures and also talked about what it was like writing her novels. The students were in awe of Qaisra and she built a wonderful rapport with the girls. They were lively and enthusiastic and asked lots of challenging questions at the end of the talk. This clearly showed how much they gained from the author’s visit and will be leaving school with a memory of a fantastic event - one which they will remember for life."

– Kate Shakeshaft, Head of English, Whalley Range High School for Girls

"With her lively, passionate way of addressing the pupils, she always created an atmosphere which easily attracted the students and made them understand the need to "leave one's own little box" and to appreciate diversity. I can say from my own experience – and this has been confirmed by teachers I talked to – that meeting Mrs Shahraz "live" at school and not only through her books has made a huge difference to the students who had the chance to take part in her sessions. The students start seeing events, developments and discussions in their own country from a different perspective which is a very positive effect of Mrs Shahraz working with them."

– Dorothee Heyder, Teacher of English at Collegium Augustinianum Gaesdonck, Goch, Germany