Haneefah Armstrong

OCLW’s Global Majority and Underrepresented Writers’ Programme is a highly competitive initiative offering eight scholarships to life-writers whose voices have historically been marginalised in publishing and academia. Alongside dedicated seminars and lectures, scholars receive skills training, mentorship, and community support. The Programme aims to ensure that the future of life-writing more fully reflects the broad and diverse range of voices that surround us.

Agents and publishers are warmly encouraged to contact scholars directly.

Haneefah Armstrong is a Pakistani-English youth worker currently working within the criminal justice system. She previously completed a Foundation Degree in Writing for Performance at Ruskin College, Oxford, where she developed a multidisciplinary approach to writing, particularly in adapting poetry and fiction for stage and screen. During her studies, she was especially inspired by the memoirs of Lauren Slater, which led her to begin writing her own creative nonfiction.

Project Details:

During her time at the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing, Haneefah plans to develop a full-length memoir composed of creative nonfiction essays. Her work seeks to break new ground by crafting original narratives that re-present lived experience and pose challenging questions. She focuses on themes such as Islamic religiosity and culture, as well as the complex realities of parentlessness, tragedy, abuse, and trauma.