Tariq Mehmood

Tariq's passion for writing is born out of his involvement in campaigns for social justice. He has had great success in performance and print with his unique blend of storytelling skills and critical commentary on social concerns.

Tariq’s books for children promote the beauty of cultures from across the world. Using traditional tales and creating modern folk tales, his writing provides tools to encourage children, young people and parents to consider the complex social issues of their day. Tariq has published two novels for adults.

Tariq can use his bilingualism to engage and capture the interest of bilingual audiences. He helped to bring his own language Pothwari/Pahari (a close cousin of Punjabi) into the written form and has written two children’s books in this language.

Peter Kalu

Pete Kalu has told his stories to all age ranges from reception class age to eleven year olds and in contexts including state schools, supplementary schools and youth services. He automatically adapts the material to the audience before him. He has worked with a classroom assistant/ interpreter when taking classes containing children whose first language is Punjabi. He has collaborated with musicians and visual artists.

Pete Kalu has worked across the Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Huddersfield areas, for schools, Summer schools, playschemes and libraries. He is the author of five novels, and has won numerous writing awards including BBC Young Playwright of the Year, First Prize, Liverpool Film Script Competition and BBC North West Comedy Competition Winner. He has worked closely with Local Authority Ethnic Minority Support Services.