afshan d’souza-lodhi

afshan d’souza-lodhi was born in Dubai and forged in Manchester. She is a writer, activist, and organiser whose work spans storytelling, community-building, and systems change. As a writer of award-winning scripts and poetry, her work has been performed and translated into numerous languages across the world. She has been writer-in-residence for Sky Studios, New Writing North, Royal Exchange Theatre, Warner Bros Discovery and Bluebird Pictures, and was one of the first recipients of The National Theatre’s Peter Shaffer Award in 2022. Her television work includes developing a series with Sky Studios, and her pilot Chop Chop was selected for the second annual #MuslimList (The Black List).

Alongside her creative practice, afshan specialises in grassroots organisational systems, strategy development, and working with philanthropic organisations to deliver participatory grant-making programmes.

afshan also sits on the board of Pie Radio and is the Writers Guild Great Britain Regional Chair of Manchester and Lancashire. She is a strong advocate for diverse arts and cultural spaces and continues to champion younger and emerging voices in the arts.