Zahra Hankir

Zahra Hankir is a London-based freelance journalist who is currently editing a book of essays by Arab women reporters for Penguin. She previously worked at Bloomberg News in Dubai before joining Facebook as a content specialist in 2016.

Here, she discusses how to successfully pitch a non-fiction book, and her favourite journalistic tips and tricks, and skewed media coverage of the Middle East.

"When the Arab Spring broke out, so many of my friends were doing such great coverage, Arab women from all around the region. But they were not commanding the narrative; the people commanding the narrative were Western males. The women’s voice is rarely heard. That doesn’t only shape the narrative, I think it distorts the narrative."

Alphabet City is a series of conversations with women and non-binary writers, hosted and produced by Jessica Holland, with music by Megaflora.