Zahida Rahemtulla grew up in a big family in Burnaby on the unceded

territories of the hən ̓ q ̓ əmin̓əm ̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh-speaking peoples, and later

spent years living in Metchosin, Abu Dhabi, and Toronto.

Her first play, The Wrong Bashir, premiered to sold-out runs in Vancouver and

Toronto (Touchstone Theatre, 2023; Crow’s Theatre, 2024). An audio version

was released by CBC’s PlayME in 2025 and the play will next be produced off-Mirvish

in Toronto in 2027. Her second play, The Frontliners, a comedic drama

about refugee resettlement, received multiple national awards including a Playwrights Guild

of Canada Tom Hendry Award, the Voaden Prize in Playwriting, 

and was nominated for a 2025 Outstanding Original Script Jessie.

Her short stories have been shortlisted for the Alice Munro Short Story Festival
Award and long-listed for the CBC Short Story Prize. 

Zahida is developing new acting training programs to support community actors of

colour over 55—many of whom have spent their lives working outside the arts—in

pursuing professional training to join the industry at a later age in life and help fill

current shortages, most recently with Nightswimming Theatre and Talk Is Free Theatre.

Zahida enjoys teaching and is currently an instructor at Capilano University, where she

teaches Adult Education. She also works at Blind Tiger Comedy in access.