Randa Abdel-Fattah was born in Sydney in 1979. She is a Muslim of Palestinian and Egyptian heritage. She grew up in Melbourne and attended a Catholic primary school and Islamic secondary college where she obtained an International Baccaularetate. She studied Arts/Law at Melbourne University during which time she was the Media Liaison Officer at the Islamic council of Victoria, a role which afforded her the opportunity to write for newspapers and engage with media institutions about their representation of Muslims and Islam. During university and her role at the ICV, Randa was a passionate human rights advocate and stood in the 1996 federal election as a member of the Unity Party-Say No To Hanson. Randa has also been deeply interested in inter-faith dialogue and has been a member of various inter-faith networks. She also volunteered with different human rights and migrant resource organisations including the Australian Arabic council, the Victorian migrant resource centre, Islamic women’s welfare council, Palestine human rights campaign, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, to name a few. Randa has used her writing as a medium for expressing her views about the occupation of Palestine. Her articles about Palestine, Australian Muslims and the misunderstood status of women in Islam have been published in the Australian, the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Canberra Times, New Matilda, Le Monde (France). Randa is frequently sought for comment by the media on issues pertaining to Palestine, Islam or Australian Muslims. She has appeared on SBS’s Insight, ABC’s First Tuesday Book Club, ABC’s Q & A, Channel 7’s Sunrise and Channel 10’s 9am. Randa is also a regular guest at schools around Australia addressing students about her books and the social justice issues they raise. Randa has also been a guest at Sweden’s Gothenburg and Litterlund book festivals (2007 and 2008) and Kuala Lumpur’s Book festival (2008). She has also toured in Brunei and the UK. Randa lives in Sydney with her husband and their two children. She works as a litigation lawyer.

Candice Montgomery is an LA transplant now residing in Seattle. By night, she writes YA lit about Black teens across all their intersections. By day, she teaches ballet to teen boys and works in the land of sobriety and rehab. It is the goal of her stories to interrogate the spaces of race, love, the body, and sexuality, all while being a witness of life. She is represented by Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

My name is Asmaa Hussein, founder of this wholesome publishing company based in Canada. (But my official title is "Director of Awesomeness.") Since 2015, Ruqaya's Bookshelf's mission has been to publish bright, fun, and engaging Islamic children’s books to add to your home and school libraries. All our books feature Muslim characters and protagonists, because we believe representing YOU matters! Diversity in children’s literature contributes astronomically to your child's character education (not to mention, seeing someone who looks like you in a storybook is pretty darn exciting!). After servitude to God, my daughter Ruqaya is my greatest motivation. As a widowed mother to a rambunctious and beautiful girl, I strive to show her an example of dedication, determination, and excellence. I named this publishing company after her – Ruqaya’s Bookshelf – because she loves books more than anything.