AUTHORS

Salman Asif is a journalist specialising in the history and culture of the Indian subcontinent. He is the author of Razia: Warrior Queen of India.

Dr. Abd al-Rahman Azzam, author of The Travels of Ibn Battuta series, and Cleopatra: Queen of Kings, was awarded his Doctoral Degree in History from St. Antony's College, Oxford.

Leila Azzam was educated at Cairo University and is the co-author of the bestseller The Life of the Prophet Muhammad. Her second book, The Lives of the Prophets relates the stories of the prophets from Adam to Muhammad. 

Emma Clark obtained her BA in History from University College London. She later studied for her Master's Degree in Islamic Art at the Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department at the Royal College of Art (now at the Princes' Foundation). She is the author of Sinan: Architect of Istanbul and Mehmet the Conqueror.

Noura Durkee is an established American children's author. Her book The Amazing Adventures of Ibn Battuta which she also illustrated, introduces the young child to the famous traveller whose real life adventures are more amazing than fiction. She is also the author of The Animals of Paradise, The Three Shirts of Joseph, Moses and the Pharaoh, and Stories from the Quran Books 1, 2 and 3.

Denys Johnson-Davies was born in Vancouver and studied Arabic at London University and Cambridge University. He is known as the leading translator of Modern Arabic literature, including several works of Naguib Mahfouz. He is the author of Alexander the Great and Rumi: Poet and Sage.

Marion Khalidi has a BA in Arabic & Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Westminster. She has written for many magazines and newspapers in the UK and the United States of America, including Vogue and the London Evening Standard. She was the runner-up in the Sunday Times Crime Writer's Association Competition. She is the author of Saladin the Chivalrous and Queen of Sheba.

Fiona MacDonald is a well-known and established children's author, with over fifty books published. She was educated at Cambridge and has taught medieval history at the University of East Anglia. In Ibn Tulun: The Story of a Mosque, she traces the history of one of Islam's oldest mosques in the heart of Cairo and the life of the man who built it.

Julia Marshall is a novelist and graduate of St. Peter's College, Oxford where she read English literature. Her book, Shah Jahan and the Story of the Taj Mahal is about the building of one of Islam's most famous monuments. She is also the author of Suleiman the Magnificent and the Story of Istanbul.

Reza Shah-Kazemi obtained his BA in Middle Eastern Studies from Exeter University and his Doctorate in Comparative Religion from Canterbury. He is the author of Avicenna: Prince of Physicians.

ILLUSTRATORS

Shehraz Afzal, the illustrator of Stories from the Quran Book 1, lectured in illustration at Perth College. He is currently illustrating and designing our forthcoming title: Muhammad Ali: The Power and the Faith. He plans to write, illustrate and publish his own books in the future.

Emma Alcock is an English artist who trained first at Bristol School of Art and then at the Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department at the Princes' Foundation. She teaches at art schools in the U.K. and exhibits regularly at the Cadogan Contemporary Gallery in London (Soho shows). She is the illustrator of Sinan, Architect of Istanbul.

Laura de la Mare is an English artist, designer and decorator, who trained at St. Martins School of Art in London. She works freelance and exhibits regularly in the U.K. Laura is the illustrator of three of our Heroes from The East series: Cheng Ho, Admiral of the East, Rumi, Poet and Sage, and Cleopatra, Queen of Kings.

Zahra Hassan is an artist from Pakistan specialising in traditional Indo-Persian miniature painting. She obtained her PhD in this subject at the Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department at the Princes' Foundation. Zahra teaches in the U.K. and in Pakistan and exhibits internationally. She is the illustrator of Avicenna, Prince of Physicians.

Ahmed Jabir is a Sudanese artist specialising in illustration for children's books. He has worked as a cartoonist for various newspapers and magazines and taught a graphic design course for children. He won the NOMA International Prize for children's book illustration. Ahmed is the illustrator of the Queen of Sheba, one of our Heroes From The East series, as well as The Three Shirts of Joseph and Moses and the Pharaoh - both from The Lives Of The Prophets series and Stories from the Quran Books 4 and 6.

Haifa Khawaja was awarded her BA in architecture from the University of Science and Technology in Jordan, and she received her MA in Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts from the Prince's Foundation, London. Haifa has worked at the National Children's Museum in Jordan and with Darat El-Emran architects in Amman. She travels extensively for the purpose of architectural research and exhibits her work regularly.  

Fatima Masood is also from Pakistan, where she obtained a BA (first) in Fine Arts and Economics at the University of Karachi. She has been commissioned by various organisations such as UNICEF to illustrate and design promotional material and has also taught art to children of all abilities. She is the illustrator of Stories from the Quran Books 3, 5 and 6.

Desmond Lazaro is a British artist of Burmese origin. He specialises in traditional Indian miniature painting and trained under a master in Northern India. Like many of Hood Hood's illustrators, he obtained his Masters degree from the Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department at the Princes' Foundation. Desmond teaches in the U.K. and exhibits internationally. He is the illustrator of Akbar, Moghul Emperor.

Kate Montgomery is an English artist who obtained her MA from the Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department of the Princes' Foundation. She teaches in the U.K. and exhibits regularly at the Cadogan Contemporary Gallery in London. Kate is the illustrator of Razia: Warrior Queen of India.

Khalid Seydo is a British/Jordanian artist and architect who obtained his MA in Visual Islamic Arts at the Royal College of Art. He specialises in the traditional art and architecture of the Islamic world and has exhibited in the UK and abroad. Khalid is the illustrator of The Lives of the Prophets and of the entire series of Ibn Battuta books.

Simon Trethewey is an artist and designer working in different media including stained glass and gesso. He specialises in work inspired by the arts and crafts of the sacred traditions of the world. Trained first at Wimbledon School of Art and later at the Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department at the Princes' Foundation, he is the illustrator of The Animals of Paradise and Stories from the Quran Book 2.

Joan Ullathorne is an illustrator and designer with an extensive background in Islamic art and architecture. For many years she worked for the Egyptian architect, Abd al-Wahed El-Wakil. Joan is the illustrator of Ibn Tulun: the Story of a Mosque, and Shah Jahan and the Story of the Taj Mahal - both from our Treasures From The East series.

TRANSLATORS

Dr Taysir Kamleh was Senior Broadcast Journalist for the BBC Arabic TV Channel. He was also the political editor of Al-Hayat and Al-Arab newspapers based in London. He has also been a lecturer in English in Syria and Tunisia and Head of Arabic and Islamic studies at the International College, Malvern, Worcestershire, UK. He has had many of his translations published.