EMILY JOOF is an African-diaspora mum with a passion for storytelling. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria to a Gambian Father and Malian-French mother and has lived in Nigeria, Belgium, France, The Gambia, the UK and Sweden. Emily works for community organizations, NGOs and International Organizations as an Education Technical Advisor, a role that centres on inclusion and contributes in advancing and improving children's' rights in countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. She has managed and delivered programmes targeting children, at-risk youth and marginalised communities for more than 15 years. Emily is currently doing a PhD at Lancaster university in the UK. The focus of her research is on the potential that Children's Literature can have on fostering inclusion in preschools. She has a Masters in education and international development from University of London Institute of Education. And a Bachelors degree from University College London.

Emily writes stories that reflect the world that she, her own children, and millions of children across the globe grow up in, where difference is the norm. She is very active in the discussion around representation in children's literature in Sweden where she has been on panels at the Goteborg Book Fair and two of her picture books are published with Raben & Sjögren. One of her books, I Will Swim Next Time, is published with Floris Books, UK, and another, The Unbreakable Thread, is out in the USA with Soaring Kite Books.

You can find her self-published books at mbife.org

Emily's picture book script, The Promise, was selected for the 2022 We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) Black Creatives Mentorship and developed with mentorship from the award-winning children's book author Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow (Abdul's Story, Hold Them Close). Scripts for The Promise and other new picture books to be submitted soon to US and UK publishers, and we are developing ideas for middle-grade books!

Instagram: @mbife_books

Twitter: @mbifebooks

Facebook: @MbifeBooks