Laila is a London-based writer and filmmaker, and one of eleven writers selected from over 2,400 applicants for Penguin Random House UK’s WriteNow programme in 2025.

She holds a BA and MA in English Literature from Queen Mary University of London, where she also served as Editor-in-Chief of the university’s creative writing magazine. She has directed three theatre productions and self-published a poetry anthology, If These Walls Could Talk.

A prose writer, poet, playwright and screenwriter, her work spans literary fiction, crime, fantasy, romance and women’s fiction, exploring cultural identity, family, faith, and freedom — particularly through the lens of the British South Asian experience. She has written three novels and is currently seeking representation as a debut author for a literary fiction work following a young British Pakistani woman navigating duty, desire, and selfhood.