Tariq Mehmood

Tariq Mehmood was born in Pakistan in 1956, but grew up in Bradford, UK, where in 1981 he was imprisoned on terrorist charges in a case known as the Bradford 12. He started writing his first novel, Hand On The Sun, in prison, with the belief that he would spend most of his life behind bars. He was acquitted. The novel was published by Penguin. 

Tariq's second Novel, While There Is Light, Comma, was loosely set against the case of the Bradford 12. In May 2013 Tariq won the Francis Lincoln award for children's fiction: You're Not Proper - two 14 year old girls, one who thinks she is white and theother, who wears the hijab despising the first for leaving the religion of her father. They both live in a northern English town, seething with Islamophobia, from where young men, British soldiers are going to Afghanistan. http://www.franceslincoln.com/en/Page/98/Diverse_Voices.html In September 2013, You're Not Proper won a further substantial award from the Arts Council of to enable support the author editorially as well as with publicizing the book and sharing the writing experience with a wide audience. T  He is also a filmmaker. His last major film, the multi-award winning, INJUSTICE,(www.injusticefilm.co.uk) about deaths in British police custody.