Amel Mukhtar, Associate Features Writer, British Vogue, London

Hey, do you want to introduce yourself?

My name is Amel Mukhtar. I’m 29 and I’m Sudanese. I was born in Manchester, and then we moved to London, to Walthamstow, when I was eight. 

What’s your job title? And what does that title mean?

I’m Associate Features Writer at British Vogue. I write a lot about arts and culture, especially as it relates to beauty and fashion. That might mean interviewing the costume designer for a new movie or a star in the arts, or maybe writing something from a more personal viewpoint. I also lead much of the music content. 

What does being a writer at Vogue look like? 

The day-to-day is usually pitching a story or several, and then going about trying to execute them. Sometimes you’re trying to organise an interview or a shoot too. It goes from pitch to writing and then occasionally editing or, if it’s a big piece, it might go to another editor and then come back to me. It’s very much a collaborative thing. 

How did you get the job?

I was supposed to be working for another publication and they were going to pay for me to do the NTCJ (National Council for the Training of Journalists). Then, the day before the course was about to start, my uncle, my cousin and I all got into a car crash on the way to the airport. I broke my spine, my ribs, I bruised my heart and lungs. I couldn’t start the course the next day, obviously. 

I had submitted an entry to a writing competition Vogue used to do for under 25s, and while I was recovering I found out I was one of the finalists. As a finalist, you got invited to a lunch with Edward and the different editors and directors. I met everyone, including Giles, who is Features Director. Afterwards I emailed all of them asking whether they needed any help but nothing really came of it. But then, out of the blue, just before I was meant to start the NTCJ, Giles got in touch with me and said that a position had opened up as Features Assistant, and asked if I was interested in applying. I had two interviews and I got the job. That’s how I started working at Vogue!

How did you find your pathway with writing? Was it part of your experience at school and uni, if you went?

Not to mythologise myself, but my mum always tells me that I could speak and read super early. I think it’s because I always loved listening to stories and always, always loved books. One of my earliest memories was when my parents had taken me to this adult social thing and I was bored so I just started writing a poem, and my parents were so surprised when they read it. They always really encouraged my writing. At school, my strongest area was creative writing. I was top in English. I feel like I’m gassing myself up but, basically, writing has always been my biggest strength. 

I did English Literature at uni. I went to Warwick which I loved because it was a very contemporary course, so not as dusty and musty as some other English courses. 

After uni I struggled for a bit, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. I was working in retail but I got fired. Then I found out about Creativity Works by Media Trust, which is a free course on how to get into media. It’s for “disadvantaged youth” between 18 and 24, so it’s a lot of black and brown kids. They took us to all these different places like Google, the BBC, Metro newspaper… It showed us that it’s not out of reach, that a lot of these places can seem so above us and so beyond when actually they’re really not. The woman who ran the course was super helpful and when she saw how scattered I was about my career, she sat me down and she was like, you need to figure out what you want to do. Narrowing down my vision gave me such a focus. 

At the end we got a mentor… Shout out my amazing mentor Alex! He took me to a panel talk on media. There was a girl there who worked at Hearst and afterwards, encouraged by Alex, I told her I’d be really interested in interning. I was able to get work experience at Hearst, so Elle, Esquire and Cosmo. It’s unpaid but that was my first foot in the door. She shared some of her contacts and I did more unpaid work experience at Metro, The Debrief, Bauer, so it all grew from there. Then I got the offer to do the NTCJ through an opportunity emailed to us by Media Trust. So, long story, but that’s how I got into the industry. 

Do you think university helped you to get where you are, and if so, how? 

I would say you definitely don’t really need university anymore, but I’m glad I went. I know literary and cultural theory which I can draw from when I’m writing different pieces and it really informs my work, especially because I do write a little bit about politics and social issues. It lightened the load of how much extra research I have to do to understand a subject. After I graduated I had a lot of knocks that really shook my confidence and I was the last of my friends to find a “proper job”, but uni gave me confidence to be like, okay, I know I am a good writer, I’ve had people confirm that for me. It was a great place to practise and learn. But I’m not really happy about being left with the debt, so I really think it is each to their own. It’s really about just being a good writer and lots of people transition to it from it being a hobby or a pastime.