31/07/2026
What a privilege to welcome leading human rights journalist, Zahra Joya, yesterday evening with her memoir The Vanishing Girl of Kabul. Co-written with Amie Ferris-Rotman, this important book tells Zahra’s story and the story of countless Afghan women.
When the Taliban first ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, Zahra Joya disguised herself as a boy simply to attend school. After the US-led invasion, her world transformed. Education, opportunity and freedom flourished. Like many Afghans, Zahra dared to believe in a future. She became a journalist and established her own media company, Rukhshana Media, to tell the stories of Afghan women. Then, in 2021, the Taliban returned. Decades of hard-won progress vanished overnight. Women were erased from public life once again, and the promises made by the West collapsed into silence. Now exiled, Zahra exposes the brutal realities of gender-based oppression – not only in Afghanistan, but around the world.
We had a full house last night as Zahra talked to Writing West Midlands’ Shantel Edwards and answered audience questions, highlighting the ongoing gender apartheid happening in Afghanistan.
Rukhshana Media, founded by Zahra Joya, gives a voice to Afghan women with female journalists reporting on the human rights, struggles, and resilience of women and girls living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. We will be donating £10 from each book sold yesterday (and moving forward) in our shop. We have some signed copies and some unsigned copies. Do come and get your copy of Zahra’s book and support Rukhshana Media too.
Thank you so much to Zahra and to Shantel and to Ellen at Little Brown Publishing ❤️
