Nahida Esmail


Nahida Esmail is a Tanzanian author and poet. She is a lifetime sponsor of 'The Teen Writers Awards'.

Early life and education

Nahida Esmail was born and raised in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She was educated at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and graduated with a BSc in psychology and completed a master's degree in Child Development with Early Childhood Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. Later on She got married and gave birth to her 2 daughters Hafsah and Humeira Khaled.

Career

Esmail has published four young adult fiction novels and ten children's books of which some have been translated into Swahili and Maa.

Writing

Published books
2011
2014
2017
2019
2021
2024
Poetry

Awards and honours

In 2015 Esmail was honoured with the Tanzania Women's Achievement Award for the education category.
Her four young adult novels, Living in the Shade, Lesslie the City Maasai, Detectives of Shangani, and Living in the Shade: Aiming for the Summit have all received CODE's Burt Award for African literature.