Meera Syal
b. 1961
Meera Syal was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2016.
Meera Syal CBE, graduated from Manchester University with a double first in English and Drama. Her many acting credits include Beatrice in the RSC’s Much Ado About Nothing, Zehrunissa in David Hares Behind The Beautiful Forevers (National Theatre), and The Nurse in Kenneth Branagh’s production of Romeo and Juliet. She was also writer/performer in the multi award winning comedy series Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars At Number 42. Her screenplays include Bhaji On The Beach, Anita And Me and My Sister Wife. Her first novel Anita And Me won the Betty Trask Award and is on the national schools curriculum. Her other critically acclaimed novels, Life Isnt All Ha Ha Hee Hee and The House Of Hidden Mothers she adapted for television. Meera is the recipient of several national awards including 2 British Comedy Awards, 2 International EMMYS, a BAFTA nomination for her role as Ummi in The Kumars At Number 42, the Whats On Stage Award for Best Solo Performance for Shirley in Willy Russells Shirley Valentine, 2 AFA awards for her screenplay and performance in My Sister Wife, 2 RIMA awards and the Women In Film And Television Award for Creative Innovation. She holds honorary doctorates from SOAS and Manchester and Birmingham Universities and was visiting Professor Of Drama at Oxford University in 2012. She was awarded the CBE for Services To Drama And Literature in 2015.
News stories relating to Meera Syal
Literature Matters: RSL 200 – Stephen Fry and Meera Syal
26/02/2020
In the first Literature Matters: RSL 200 event, RSL Fellows Stephen Fry and Meera Syal will discuss their writing across forms – from sketch comedy to poetry, independently and in collaboration, written and performed – that has elevated them each to th …
