I've always written. From the moment I could pick up a pen I've put it to page. Writing is in the blood for me.

My grandmother, Mumtaz Shirin, was a popular short story writer in Pakistan and though she died long before I was born, I have certainly inherited her passion for crafting words. Some of my earliest memories are of writing short stories on scraps of paper in great scrawling unintelligible letters. My earliest influences came from Tolkien's fantasy world, which I often tried to emulate in my own scribblings. Eventually, by the age of twelve, I had a go at inventing my own fantasy world in a short novel. Since then I've tried my hand at writing a number of novels.

Though I've never sent any manuscripts off to publishers, it has never mattered, because writing, to me, is a labour of love. With each project I feel I've grown, experimented with new styles, improved my writing and above all, had fun! I'm currently working with an idea for a new novel, in between my studies and this one I hope to finally send away to try my luck with publication.

More recently my love of writing has come to be entwined with my passion for politics. Not old men in grey suits, but injustice, idealism, anger, protest, hope and peace. I write regularly for the Socialist Unity Network, and have written articles for the Weekly Worker and Red Pepper. Much of my poetry, which I've had published in various small magazines, local papers, anthologies, e-zines, and websites, reflects this voice of protest, and perhaps those of some of my more recent influences, from Blake, through Owen and Sassoon, to Benjamin Zephaniah. But above all I write to find my own voice, my own little corner of the world and my own way, however small, of making a difference.