LAYLA MAGHRIBI
Layla has been working as a journalist for the past decade and spent several years based in the Middle East writing and producing for major media outlets such as CNN and Reuters. Born and raised in London to Arab parents, she is fluent in Arabic and English and has lived and worked as a reporter in the UAE, Syria and Lebanon. A keen traveller and linguist, Layla studied Italian at university after learning Spanish at school.
She is currently based in London and was until recently, the senior correspondent in London at The National News, a leading English language news outlet from the Middle East where she focused on social issues affecting Arab communities, particularly in relation to culture, immigration, and mental health.
ANITA MANGAN
Anita Mangan is a very successful graphic designer and illustrator. She illustrated the best selling Be a Unicorn gift book for Spruce (Hachette), after which she was commissioned to illustrate 5 more in the series (flamingos, mermaids, llama, more unicorns and sloths). She has signed a merchandise deal for all these beasts. Watch this space.
She has designed 4 cookbooks for LEON (one award-winning) and many more for Ella Risbridger, Cabana, Allegra McEvedy, Shaun Hill, Hangfire Smokehouse, Gizzi Erskine, Paul Merrett, Kelis, Fearne Cotton, Ella’s Kitchen (4), Kerstin Rodgers, Kelis, Mima Sinclair, Edd Kimber and Comptoir Libanais.
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In September 2017, she published her first book Bingo: The Illustrated Guide to Bingo Lingo (Quadrille) to critical acclaim.
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Escape the Rooms, with words by Stephen Mangan and illustrations by Anita, was published by Scholastic in June 2021.
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The Chinese Zodiac: A Seriously Silly Guide was published by Portico in October 2021.
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The Fart that Changed the World, with words by Stephen Mangan, illustrations by Anita, was published by Scholastic in June 2022.
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The Unlikely Rise of Harry Sponge, with words by Stephen Mangan, was published by Scholastic in April 2023.
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The Great Reindeer Rescue, with words by Stephen Mangan, was published by Scholastic in October 2023.
ABI MILLAR
Abi Millar is an experienced writer and journalist living in London. She started out at a lifestyle magazine, followed by a stint as a writer and editor for the trade press. Since going freelance in 2014, she has covered topics ranging from sleep trackers to fast fashion to biophilic architecture. She takes a particular interest in social issues and mental health.
Her work has appeared in Patient, Netdoctor, New Statesman, Vice, VolteFace, Guardian Labs, LEAF Review, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle UK and a wide range of science / tech publications. She has a chapter in the acclaimed essay collection Under My Thumb: Songs That Hate Women And The Women Who Love Them (Repeater Books), and wrote a novel before deciding to focus on narrative non-fiction.
She is also a yoga teacher (RYT200), and is fascinated by what spirituality might mean from the perspective of a science-minded, secular Westerner.
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Her first book, The Spirituality Gap, will be published by Duckworth in January 2025.
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KITTY RUSKIN
Kitty Ruskin works for TIME Magazine.
After completing a Masters in Literature from the University of Edinburgh, she started her career in fashion writing and (less glamorously) in writing profiles for wedding bands. Now she writes about women’s issues, mental health, and specialises in audience engagement.
She lives in East London with her boyfriend and several ailing plants.
Her debut book, Ten Men, was published by Icon in April 2024.
RUTH TALBOT
Ruth is an award-winning campaigner, researcher and writer on all things single parenting related. In 2020, after writing to Dominic Cummings and successfully lobbying Number 10 to introduce support bubbles for single parents throughout lockdown, she set up the campaign group Single Parent Rights. Ruth regularly speaks at key events highlighting single parent discrimination in the UK and in 2021, she won the Single Mums Business Network Campaigner of the year award.
She has been interviewed on various television and radio stations including Channel 4 News, BBC Radio 4's PM Programme, Radio 5 Live and LBC . She has been published in the Guardian, Grazia, i News, the Metro and Harper’s Bazaar, amongst other publications. She has contributed to several books including How to be a Happy Single Parent by Zoe Desmond and Rebecca Cox, Get Divorced, Be Happy by Helen Thorne, Holding the Baby by Polly Braden and Work Parent by Daisy Dowling, as well as being published in the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, King's College London.
Ruth assisted in editing Going it Alone: A guide for solo mums in the UK by Emily Engel and has contributed to Independent Family Planning: Choosing solo motherhood through gamete donation, a booklet for Solo Mums by Choice edited by Grace Halden (Birkbeck). In 2023 she contributed to the design of temporary accommodation for single mothers which was long listed for The Davidson Prize. She is also part of a podcast series curated by On the Record on childcare in the UK.
In her spare time Ruth raises her three young boys solo and works part-time at a children's charity.
NADINE WHITE
Nadine White is a multi-award winning journalist who joined The Independent as Britain's first Race Correspondent in March '21 where she focuses on amplifying stories around marginalised communities. She previously worked at HuffPost UK and The Voice – Britain’s longest-running Black newspaper.
This year, Nadine was named as a Forbes 30 Under 30 Honouree and BBC 1Xtra Future Figure.
In 2020, she won the Paulette Wilson Windrush Award after becoming the first Black reporter to be shortlisted for the prestigious Paul Foot Award in its history. Her investigative work has also been acknowledged by the British Journalism Awards and Amnesty International, the world's leading human rights organisation.
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Her debut film, Barrel Children, was released in June 2023.
