I am so excited to share that The Thirty Before Thirty List has been longlisted for the prestigious Jhalak Prize!

First awarded in March 2017, the Jhalak Prize awards seek to celebrate books by writers of colour in the UK and Ireland. The awards are administered by the Jhalak Foundation, a UK registered charity that focuses on literary and artistic initiatives that celebrate and support diversity, inclusion and equity. 

 To be longlisted is an absolute honour and dream come true. As a writer of rom-coms and YAs, I never, EVER expected to be longlisted for any sort of award that wasn’t about romance… in fact, I think The Thirty Before Thirty List might even be the first rom-com that has ever made the longlist!!

 If you haven’t read it yet – you can check it out here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-thirty-before-thirty-list-treat-yourself-to-this-uplifting-novel-about-what-if-s-missed-chances-and-new-beginnings-tasneem-abdur-rashid/7649597?ean=9781838778187

 

 

Date: Monday 24 February 2025 

Get ready for the most candid book convo of your life! It’s time to spill the tea on everything! Writing, inspiration, the industry, life, everything basically!!! 

Links to the tickets are here: https://www.waterstones.com/events/an-evening-with-the-candid-book-club-and-tasneem-abdur-rashid-at-waterstones-piccadilly/london-piccadilly

I’m thrilled to share the gorgeous cover of my upcoming YA, Odd Girl Out, published by David Fickling Books. This book is really special to me – it’s the book I wish I had growing up as a visibly Muslim teenager in London in the 90s. It’s a coming-of-age story about family, love, secrets, politics and race – and I hope it’s one that resonates with my readers!

Stay tuned for pre-order links!

Tasneem x

I’m excited to share that I’ll be at Watford Library on Thursday 28th November at 7:00PM to talk about my books, my writing journey, diverse rom-coms and more! 

Fun fact – I worked for Haringey Libraries once upon a time and we used to hold the odd author event. I remember helping my manager organise one, and then attending and listening to the author in awe, never once imagining that there would come a time when I would be invited to events myself! 

Yet somehow, here I am… almost two decades later, living out my dream of writing books that people actually read and then talking about them!!! I still can’t believe that I do stuff like this now 

Please do pop over if you’re free! Tickets are below!