Hassan Mahamdallie is a playwright, director, writer and specialist in diversity and the arts.  He was born in London into a large working-class Indo-Trinidadian/English family. After completing an MA in Theatre Studies at Leeds University in 1984 he worked as an actor, devisor and director in Theatre in Education and Community Theatre, mainly in the north of England, with radical companies including M6 Theatre Co (Rochdale) and Pit Prop Theatre (Wigan).

A senior policy maker and consultant, he authored Arts Council England’s unique approach: The Creative Case for Diversity. He is a founding member of UK organisation Unite Against Fascism. Hassan launched his theatre company Dervish Productions in 2014. His last play, which he wrote and directed, ‘The Crows Plucked Your Sinews’, is about Somalis in Britain and Britain in Somalia.