Myriam François-Cerrah

Myriam François-Cerrah (born Emilie Siobhan Geoghegan François; 20 December 1982)[1] is an English-French writer,[2] broadcaster and academic on issues related to Islam, France and the Middle East.

Myriam (Emilie) François-Cerrah
Born
Emilie Siobhan Geoghegan François

20 December 1982
Camden, London, England
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge (B.A.)
Georgetown University (M.A.)
University of Oxford (D.Phil. in 2017)
OccupationActress, writer, journalist

Educational qualifications

François-Cerrah completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford in 2017. Her doctoral work was a study of Islamic political movements in Morocco. She also holds an MA with honours in Middle East politics from Georgetown University, and a BA from the University of Cambridge in Social and Political Science.[3]

Career

Film

A former actress, François-Cerrah's screen career began at age 12 in Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility (1995) in which she played Margaret Dashwood alongside Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet.[4][5] She went on to star in Paws (1997) alongside Nathan Cavaleri and Heath Ledger, and New Year's Day (2000), in which she played Heather.

Academic and journalistic career

François-Cerrah worked as a research assistant at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS), Georgetown University (2005–07) in Washington DC. She is former assistant editor and features writer at Emel magazine (2008–09). She has translated Asma Lamrabet's book[6] which won the English Pen Award. She was a regular guest on BBC One's The Big Questions from 2008 to 2011[7] and on Sunday Morning Live in 2015.[8][9]

She has worked as a programme researcher and presenter at the BBC. In 2015 she presented a BBC1 documentary on the genocide at Srebrenica,[10] which aired on BBC 1 on Monday 6 July 2015. The documentary was nominated for a Santford Saint Martin award for "best religious programming". In 2016, she presented "The Muslim Pound" (aired July 2015) on BBC1. She developed, produced and presented a monthly Arts and Culture documentary series called Compass[11] for TRT World from 2015-2017, covering French politics, the migrant issue and Brexit.

She worked as a programme producer on Al Jazeera's Head to Head (2013–?).[12]

In 2017, she presented Channel 4’s Dispatches The Truth About Muslim Marriages, a programme exploring Islamic marriage practices in the United Kingdom.[13] The programme was nominated for an Asian Media Awards in 2018, in the category of Best Investigation.[14]

She is a former correspondent for the Huffington Post (2014–15), where she broke a headline story on an exclusive 36-page document written by alleged al-Qaeda kingpin Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.[15] She has appeared on Newsnight (2009), 4thought.tv (2011),[16] BBC News (2010),[17] Crosstalk (2010), BBC Radio (2012), Sky News[18] and documentaries including Divine Women, presented by Bettany Hughes.[19]

In 2012, she commented on the French presidential elections for Sky News, as well as the French presidential inauguration and 2012 local elections and regularly comments on current affairs, in particular related to France or the Middle East.

She has guest lectured at universities including Harvard University (2014), Birmingham (2014), Luther College (2015) and an annual guest lecture at Kingston University, UK (2012–14). She also spoke at the 2015 HowTheLightsGetsIn Hay-on-Wye Festival.[20]

She is a regular presenter at high profile events, including the Mayor of London's Eid Festival 2019[21] and the London Modest Fashion Festival 2018, among others.[22]

Her most recent documentary City of Refuge,[23] looked at the plight of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Her articles have been featured in the Middle East Eye,[24] The Guardian,[25] The Huffington Post,[26] New Statesman,[27] Your Middle East,[28] The London Paper, Jadaliyya,[29] the Australian Broadcasting Corporation,[30] The Daily Telegraph,[31] Salon,[32] Index on Censorship,[33] The F-Word[34] and the magazine Emel.[35]

She is a Research Associate at School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London (SOAS), in the Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East, where her work focuses on issues related to British Muslims, integration and racism.[36]

She was a judge for the 2019 Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction books.[37]

Personal life

In 2003, at 21 years old, François-Cerrah converted to Islam after graduating from Cambridge. At the time, she was a sceptical Roman Catholic. She rejects the use of the words "convert" or "revert" as "exclusionary", describing herself as "just Muslim".[38]

References
  1. "Emilie Siobhan Geoghegan FRANCOIS - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  2. "Myriam Francois-Cerrah". journalisted.com. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  3. "Dr Myriam Francois". Archived from the original on 31 January 2019.
  4. Thompson, Emma (1995). "The Diaries". In Doran, Lindsay; Thompson, Emma (eds.). Sense and Sensibility: The Screenplay and Diaries. Bloomsbury. pp. 246–247. ISBN 1-55704-782-0.
  5. Howe, Desson (15 December 1995). "Uncommonly Good 'Sense'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013. (subscription required)
  6. "Kube Publishing » Women in the Qur'an: An Emancipatory Reading". www.kubepublishing.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  7. "One Programmes – The Big Questions, Series 3, Episode 5". BBC. 31 January 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  8. "One Programmes – Series 6 Episode 15". BBC. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  9. "One Programmes – Series 6 Episode 15". BBC. 5 July 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  10. Francois-Cerrah, Myriam (6 July 2015). "A Deadly Warning: Srebrenica Revisited". BBC.
  11. TRT World (17 October 2017), Compass: Witnesses of Stone, retrieved 10 June 2019
  12. "Ebor Lecture: Myriam Francois-Cerrah". www.higheryork.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  13. "TV CHOICE: The Truth About Muslim Marriage". Asian Image. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  14. "Myriam Francois's Channel 4 documentary nominated for Asian Media Award". Northbank Talent Management. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  15. Francois-Cerrah, Myriam (14 January 2014). "Mastermind Of The Sept. 11 Attacks Wants To Convert His Captors". Huffington Post.
  16. "0258 Myriam Francois Cerrah Should Muslims adapt to Britain or should Britain adapt to Muslims?". 4thought.tv. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  17. "Impact Asia – A veiled threat or an attack on faith?". BBC News. 13 July 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  18. "Myriam Francois-Cerrah, French elections April 2012, Sky news" video on YouTube
  19. Divine Women on BBC
  20. https://leftfootforward.org/2015/04/progressive-politics-takes-centre-stage-at-howthelightgetsin/
  21. "Everything you need to know about Eid Festival in London". Evening Standard. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  22. admin. "We are pleased to announce that Dr Myriam Francois will be hosting Modest Fashion Festival". www.modestfashionfestival.com. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  23. "BBC Radio 4 - City of Refuge". BBC. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  24. "Myriam Francois". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  25. Myriam Francois-Cerrah profile from The Guardian
  26. Francois-Cerrah, Myriam (26 January 2012). "Why a War With Iran is the Real Threat". Huffington post. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  27. Francois-Cerrah, Myriam (14 December 2011). "When does it not pay to be Muslim?". the New Statesman. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  28. Francois-Cerrah, Myriam (29 April 2013). "Morsi must become a leader for all Egyptians". Your Middle East.from Your Middle East
  29. Francois-Cerrah, Myriam (16 May 2015). "Olivier Roy on Laicite as Ideology, the Myth of 'National Identity' and Racism in the French Republic". Jadaliyya.
  30. Francois-Cerrah, Myriam (27 April 2015). "Face Veils and Miniskirts: Whose Interests are Served in France's Republic of Men?". ABC.
  31. Francois-Cerrah, Myriam (17 July 2014). "Why banning Sharia courts would harm British Muslim women". The Daily Telegraph.
  32. Francois-Cerrah, Myriam (13 October 2014). "Bill Maher's horrible excuse: Why his defense of Islamophobia just doesn't make any sense". Salon.
  33. Francois-Cerrah, Myriam (15 January 2011). "Tunisia: France's faux pas". Index on Censorship. Archived from the original on 22 January 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  34. "Articles by Myriam Francois-Cerrah". The F-Word. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  35. "Sailing Towards The Divine | Feature Interviews | Features | June 2011 &#124". Emel. 27 June 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  36. "Myriam François | Staff | SOAS University of London". Soas.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  37. "Dr Myriam Francois | The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction". Thebailliegiffordprize.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  38. Francois-Cerrah, Myriam (15 June 2015). "Don't call me a "convert"/"revert"".
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