Arifa Akbar
Arifa Akbar is chief theatre critic for the Guardian. She has previously been literary editor at the Independent, as well as a news reporter and arts correspondent. She has served as a trustee on the boards of the Orwell Foundation and English PEN. Her first book, Consumed: In Search of my Sister, was shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards, PEN Ackerley Prize and Jhalak Prize, and it was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize. Wolf Moon: A Woman’s Journey into the Night, her second book, was selected as a Book of the Week by BBC Radio 4 in August 2025.