Layan Abdul Shakoor is the Founder and Creative Director of Mauzoun, an award-winning writing studio and publishing house based in Saudi Arabia. Mauzoun’s publishing ethos is innovative as it foregoes the Arab region’s traditional pay-to-publish model to instead focus on a boutique publishing model that headhunts quality authors,  resulting in books that are premium in design and narrative. Mauzoun currently publishes works for Arab authors such as Lamia Ziadé and Amani Haydar, in addition to the Mauzoun team’s self-authored works, which focus on premium and captivating retellings of Arab and Saudi myths, legends, and folktales. Mauzoun’s writing clientele include the Saudi Ministry of Culture, Zaha Hadid Architects, Diriyah Biennale, and the Red Sea International Film Festival. With 8 years of experience in story development and editing and 5 years of experience in leading Mauzoun, Layan’s personal work focuses on storytelling education and cultural analysis.