Wafa'. Tarnowska

Wafa' Tarnowska was born in Lebanon and has also lived in Australia, India, Poland, Cyprus and the UAE. She currently lives between the UK and Poland.

Wafa' has held a variety of jobs before becoming a full time writer. She was the editor of a feminist magazine, a radio broadcaster, a journalist, a language teacher, a head-hunter, a CSR Consultant. She still teaches about Middle Eastern Culture.

Wafa' has written 7 award winning children's books translated into several languages. She has also translated dozens of children's books, documentaries and poems from Arabic, to English and vice versa. She has published two grown-up books on mothers and fathers and is currently writing her memoirs.

Her newest book "Our World: Lebanon" is written for toddlers and is published by Barefoot Books. It takes you on a day in the life of a Lebanese child while providing fascinating information about Lebanese food... yum, yum...entertainment and family members in English and Arabic. It was inspired by her four grand children under the age of 5,5.

"Nour’s Secret Library" won the IPPY Gold Award and the Gold Nautilus Award. It also won second place at the Diverse Book Award for illustrated children’s books and was featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Times, the Guardian and The Sunday Times as one of the best children’s books of 2022/2023. Nour has also been longlisted for the World Illustration Awards and its 1,5 minutes long trailer has been viewed 32,559 times!! it has been translated into Japanese, Dutch and Greek.

Wafa's "Arabian Nights" won the American Folklore Society Aesop Accolade, the Moonbeam Award Gold Medal Winner and the Smithsonian Magazine Notable Book for Children and has been translated into French, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese. The Paperback edition is now part of the Barefoot Books Independent Readers line. Her "Amazing Women of the Middle East" has been translated into Danish and Arabic, and reprinted into a paperback revised edition.

Wafa' regards her writing, translation and storytelling as a valuable bridge between East and West, helping to break down the stereotypical images that Western people have about the Middle East.

Besides writing, translation, and story telling, Wafa' loves going on holidays to weird and wonderful places. She looks forward to visiting schools and participating in literary festivals all over the world. Telling stories and meeting children is one of her great joys in life in addition to spending time with her four grandchildren who inspire her continuously.