Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a writer, broadcaster, and award-winning social advocate.

A former mechanical engineer, Yassmin's literary novel At Sea is forthcoming with Canongate in 2026. The propulsive literary thriller follows Zainab, an expert driller, as she navigates the male-dominated world of offshore drilling. Also publishing in 2026 is Silverbrook: Yumna and the Golden Horse, the action-packed first instalment in her new teen fantasy series with Hachette.

Yassmin’s previous books include Stand Up and Speak Out Against Racism (Walker, 2023), named a ‘Best Book of the Year’ by School Library Journal and Guardian. Previous books include essay collection Talking About A Revolution (PRH, 2022), and two novels for younger readers, You Must Be Layla (Puffin, 2020) and Listen Layla (Puffin, 2021), longlisted for Book of the Year by The Children’s Book Council of Australia.

Yassmin’s commentary has appeared in the Observer Magazine, TIME, New Lines, Guardian, The New York Times, Times Literary Supplement, Vogue and more. She has a Substack, Good Chat with thousands of weekly readers, and her critically acclaimed essays have been published widely, including in the best-selling It’s Not About The Burqa and The New Daughters of Africa. Most recently, Yassmin was a finalist of the Richard J Margolis Award for social justice journalism for her writing and reporting on Sudan. She was also judge for the 2025 Children and YA Jhalak Prize and the 2025 Stella Prize.

Abdel-Magied’s writing spans page, stage and screen. Selected for ITV's 2024 Original Voices placement on the British soap EMMERDALE, Abdel-Magied has since joined the core writing team with several credits to her name. Her original drama, CRUISE CONTROL, is in development with the BBC and she is also developing a slate of other TV projects for screen. Yassmin co-wrote the sold-out immersive theatre production in Kensington Palace, United Queendom, and has been selected for several playwrighting courses, including the Soho Theatre Writers Lab. The LAYLA series was optioned by the award-winning Goalpost Pictures, with Yassmin as creator and lead writer, and is currently in development. In 2021, Yassmin was awarded the Australia Council Keesing Studio International Artist residency, and spent the year at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. Since, she has been selected for numerous residencies and fellowships around the world, including Sewanee Writers Conference, Hedgebook, Kimmel Harding Nelson, Passa Porta, VCCA, RUPERT and more.

One of the LinkedIn 2020 #Changemakers and 2022 Tiktok #Teammates, Yassmin is a globally sought-after speaker and advisor on social justice issues and inclusive leadership. She has delivered workshops and keynotes in 25 countries across five continents. Her internationally acclaimed TED talk, What does my headscarf mean to you, has been viewed over 2.5 million times and was chosen as one of TED’s top ten ideas. She has a combined social media following of over of 380K.

With over a decade of governance experience across sectors, Yassmin’s work is informed by both theory and experience. She founded Youth Without Borders at the age of 16, leading it for nine years before starting Mumtaza, focusing on the empowerment of women of colour. She has been awarded numerous awards for her advocacy, including the Young Voltaire Award for Free Speech and Queensland Young Australian of the Year, and currently sits on the Trustee Board of the London Library and the Edinburgh International Book Festival, previously serving on the Boards of the Queensland Museum, ChildFund Australia and the domestic violence prevention organisation, OurWatch.

Yassmin has presented TV and podcasts in Australia, Britain and the US, including national current affairs show Australia Wide, ground-breaking documentary The Truth About Racism, and Hijabistas, a series looking at the modest fashion scene in Australia. She is a regular news and current affairs commentator on the BBC, Aljazeera, Monocle 24 and can be heard hosting podcasts such as Motor Mouth (on becoming a Formula 1 driver), EY’s Better Questions (helping CEOs lead into the future), and The Guilty Feminist.

In all her work, Yassmin is an advocate for transformative justice and a fairer, safer world for all.