Mohamed Hassan is an award-winning writer, journalist and poet from Auckland and Cairo.
He is the creator of Miles From Nowhere, a scripted TV comedy about love, music and mass surveillance from SKY Originals and Red Arrow Studios International. The show had its world premier at the Red Sea Film Festival and aired in 2024 to critical acclaim.
Hassan’s debut poetry collection National Anthem was shortlisted for the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards, and his bestselling essay collection How To Be A Bad Muslim was published by Penguin Random House in 2022 and shortlisted for a NZSA Heritage Award. In 2015 he won the NZ National Poetry Slam and placed 2nd at the UK National Poetry Slam in 2021. He has performed his work at TEDx, Auckland Writers Festival, The Cheltenham Literature Festival, WOMAD, Love Supreme Jazz Festival and the International World Poetry Slam. His poetry films (Un)Learning My Name and Customs: A Love Story have been shared widely online, and are taught in hundreds of schools internationally.
As a journalist, Mohamed was awarded the Gold Trophy at the New York Festivals Radio Awards for his podcast series Public Enemy on the impacts of social and security policies on Muslim communities in New Zealand, Australia and the United States. His 2020 series The Guest House tackled community grief following the Christchurch terror attacks. His video reports and mini-documentaries for TRT World and Middle East Eye have been watched by millions globally. Over the last few years, he has covered the Middle East and Africa, receiving two Lovie Awards for his digital coverage of the region.
In 2021 he co-founded Homegrown Pictures Ltd, a production company working to tell unheard stories on screen. Its first project was Miles From Nowhere. He currently hosts the podcast The Big Picture, exploring today’s world through the lens of culture, history and society.