Anita and Me

Dame Meera Syal (born 27 June 1961) is an English author, comedian, actress, and playwright whose semi-autobiographical debut novel Anita and Me (1996) won the Betty Trask Award and became a syllabus staple in British schools. Her other notable novels include Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee (1999) and The House of Hidden Mothers (2015); she has been recognized with a DBE in 2026 for services to literature, a BAFTA Fellowship in 2023, and election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017 BBC.