Nadia Mahjouri

Nadia Mahjouri is a Moroccan-Australian novelist and writer. Her work investigates the nuance of diverse women's lives, with a particular interest in exploring experiences of motherhood, identity and belonging.

Supported by an Emerging Artist Grant, Mahjouri undertook a Writing Masterclass with award-winning historical fiction writer Maggie O'Farrell at Silk Road Slippers in Marrakesh, Morocco. The Masterclass included workshops on dialogue, voice, story and structure, creative practice, drafting, and redrafting. This allowed personalised feedback, something which is invaluable for emerging writers like Mahjouri.

After completing the Masterclass, Mahjouri stayed in Morocco to research her historical fiction novel set in Marrakesh. 'Experiencing the sounds, sights and smells of those locations will be an invaluable form of firsthand research – feeding the imagination and allowing me to truly visualise what it may have been like to have been present in the time and place my novel brings to life,' said Mahjouri.

Mahjouri's debut novel, Half Truth, is inspired by her own life and will be published by Penguin Random House on 11 February 2025. Set between Morocco and Tasmania, the novel tells the story of two mothers searching for the same man, Ahmed, an absent father and a missing son.

'Receiving the [Cultural Trust] Emerging Artist Grant is incredibly exciting and feels like a vote of confidence in the quality of my writing and in my potential to create important and meaningful work that will impact the Australian literary landscape.'

Mahjouri recently started her own podcast, The Whole Truth, where she interviews Australian women writers with children and investigates how motherhood fuels and challenges their creativity.