Afreen Akhtar is a writer, multidisciplinary artist, and activist based in Delhi. Her work explores subjects such as identity, gender, marginalisation, communal violence, and the rewriting of History. She received The Sonny and Gita Mehta Indian Scholarship 2024 to pursue a Master's in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia and recently graduated with a distinction. She is one of the winners of the Prince Claus Seed Fund Awards 2023. She was long-listed for The Wasafiri New Writing Prize '25, The Disquiet Prize '25 and Toto Awards in Creative Writing (English) 2024. She received the Transmitterance Fellowship '21, where she created radio/sound art for a community radio. Her literature-oriented sound art was showcased in Khoj Studios, Delhi via Norient Sound '23, Abhivyakti City Festival ’23 and Transmitterance Radio Festival '21. 

Her recent writing has appeared in The Bombay Literary Magazine, Vogue India, The Gulmohur Quarterly, etc. Her performative and multi-disciplinary work has appeared in TEDx Gateway, UN Women, The Wire, The Queer Muslim Project, Team Works Art, Norient Sounds, etc. 

Afreen is also the founder of an online gender-fluid thrift store, Ismat Store, which promotes sustainable and environmentally conscious fashion with an emphasis on art and literature. 

She is currently working on her debut novel, a collection of short stories and some other multi-disciplinary projects.