The occasion was launched through a live interactive performance of poetry, percussion and painting, choreographed by Mohammed Ali (also known as Aerosol Arabic).[21] The panel of judges include award-winning authors Leila Aboulela (author of Minaret) and children's writers Anna Perera (author of Guantanamo Boy), Bhavit Mehta (author of Laghu the Clever Crow), Sufiya Ahmed (author of the Khadija Academy series) along with best-selling novelist Qaisra Shahraz, Moazzam Begg (author and 2008 MWA writer of the year) and Zahid Hussain (author of The Curry Mile).[2]