Sudanese-Australian author, screenwriter and award-winning social advocate Yassmin Abdel-Magied has been named among the 2026 BAFTA Breakthrough UK cohort, recognising her work as a writer on British television drama Emmerdale.
slinking back onto twitter to share this wild news – I’ve been named as a ✨ 2026 @BAFTA BREAKTHROUGH ✨Subhanallah, to be named among this cohort – a program w alumni like Florence Pugh, Letitia Wright, Callum Turner, Charlie Covell – is an honour and blessing. Alhamdulilah!
— Yassmin Abdel-Magied (@yassmin_a) November 4, 2026
Abdel-Magied praised the soap as ‘the best continuing drama’, describing its storytelling as ‘interesting’, following the announcement of her selection among this year’s BAFTA Breakthrough talents.
On 4 November 2026, BAFTA announced the 21 creatives selected for its 2026 UK Breakthrough cohort, recognising emerging talent across film, television and games. The programme is supported by Netflix.
The 35-year-old was selected for ITV’s Original Voices placement in 2024, a 12-week programme for emerging and underrepresented writers. Describing the opportunity as ‘life-changing’, she has since written eight episodes of Emmerdale, contributing to storylines involving established characters such as Charity Dingle and addressing subjects including grooming, exploitation and modern slavery. She also has an original drama in development with the BBC and is continuing to develop her slate of original television dramas.
A former mechanical engineer, Abdel-Magied is an award-winning speaker, journalist and documentary presenter. She has presented documentaries, television programmes and podcasts internationally, and regularly appears on BBC, CNN, France 24, TRT World and Al Jazeera. Her journalism and non-fiction writing have been published in The Guardian, TIME, The New York Times, New Lines, The New Arab and Vogue, among others.
Her TED Talk, ‘What does my headscarf mean to you?’, has received more than 2.5 million views and was recognised as one of TED’s top 10 ideas.
Abdel-Magied is also an established author. Her books include Stand Up and Speak Out Against Racism (Walker, 2023), which was longlisted for the UKLA and SLA Information Book Awards; the critically acclaimed essay collection Talking About a Revolution (PRH, 2022); and the bestselling young adult novels You Must Be Layla (Puffin, 2019) and Listen, Layla (Puffin, 2021), the latter longlisted for Book of the Year by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Her other works include Yassmin’s Story (PRH, 2016).
She has also served as a judge for the 2025 Stella Prize and the 2025 C&YA Jhalak Prize, and was recently awarded a place on Cove Park’s international residency programme.
Now in its 13th year, BAFTA Breakthrough is the arts charity’s flagship talent development programme, recognising emerging creatives at pivotal stages in their careers. Selected participants receive year-round support, including one-to-one meetings, career guidance, industry networking opportunities and full BAFTA membership.
More than 330 creatives have participated in the programme globally, spanning screenwriting, acting, game design, art direction, editing and costume design. Alumni have gone on to develop films, television programmes and games, collectively receiving more than 200 BAFTA nominations and over 80 wins.
The 2026 UK cohort represents a range of disciplines across casting, production, directing, performing and writing, with members having contributed to some of the most acclaimed projects of the past year.
For more information, visit www.bafta.org/programmes/bafta-breakthrough
