KMB Press E-Gift Card

Umisaldo A. Khair was born in Australia and grew up in a little rural country town with a large Muslim population. In her formative years, she would spend her weekends attending her local madrasah in the morning, then reading books or playing tennis for the rest of the day. She loved to volunteer for various philanthropic positions at school, and served as a Student Councillor for 3 years at her High School before being voted as the School Head Girl in her final year. 

Umisaldo completed a Commerce Degree, with a Triple Major in Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, Management, and Human Resource Management. She then furthered her studies with a Masters in Human Resource Management, whilst working full time in the Australian Public Sector. After getting married and falling pregnant with her son, she decided to leave her full time job to focus on motherhood, whilst at the same time running a small business from home. 

Umisaldo began dabbling in writing some short fiction as a way to entertain her young child. She based her stories on themes that her son was experiencing at the time—such as night terrors. Even though these stories were imperfect drafts, her son not only resonated with the events but absolutely adored them! She then partnered with her best friend of 15 years to help transform one of her child’s favourite stories into a proper book for both her son and his peers to enjoy.

Raihanaty A. Jalil was born in Malaysia to Indonesian parents and moved to Australia before the age of three. She is an avid Jane Austen reader who spent her childhood lost in her vivid imagination, playing out made-up characters in her backyard. She has been writing poetry and stories since Primary School, inspired by classic poets such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning and William Blake. She considers herself to be a jack of all trades and has led a very interesting life, taking on a variety of roles including poet, educator, entrepreneur, rapper and speaker. She believes that sharing her writing with others is akin to sharing a part of her soul. 

Raihanaty has read her work during Perth Festival Writers Week, at The Wheeler Centre for the Digital Writers' Festival and has sat on the board for Centre for Stories. Raihanaty has facilitated poetry workshops at the Australian Islamic College for Propel Youth Arts WA. Her creative non-fiction and short fiction has appeared in the anthologies, Wave After Wave and To Hold The Clouds (Centre for Stories, Australia).