About Zaheda
Zaheda Ghani and her family arrived in Australia from Afghanistan as refugees in the 1980s. At nine years old Zaheda, also known as Zoe, handwrote her first novel using a HB pencil, in a scented diary with a lock and key. The heart of what she wrote back then developed over many years to become Pomegranate & Fig, which was shortlisted for the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers and the Western Sydney Emerging Writers Fellowship.
Zaheda served on the board of Australia for UNHCR, the private sector partner of the UN Refugee Agency from 2017 to 2021. She received an honorary Doctor of Science degree in 2023 from Edith Cowan University for her significant contributions as a writer, refugee and women in tech advocate.
She works is Technology and is an Ambassador for Australia for UNHCR.