Ally Zlatar

Dr Ally Zlatar is an artist, writer and activist. She is the founder of The Starving Artist; an artist initiative that utilizes creative voices as a way to create advocacy and systemic reform. She also founded The Starving Artist Publishing Studio to platform marginalized writers and The Starving Artist Scholarship Fund which helps people access inpatient mental health treatment. Her "This Body of Mine" campaign explores migrant experiences through creative voices and has helped support individuals and artists from refugee-seeking backgrounds globally. Ally Zlatar has received numerous accolades for humanitarian work; such as the Forbes 30 Under 30 for Social Impact (Asia, 2025), Commonwealth Innovation Awards (2023), UNWomen 30 for 2030 (2024), winner of The Princess Diana Legacy Award (2021), King Hamad Award for Youth Empowerment (2022), the Lieutenant Governor's Community Volunteer Award from the Ontario Government of Canada (2023) and also special recognition from The British Citizen Award (2022). She holds a BFA in Visual Art & Art History from Queen's University & an MLitt Curatorial Practice and Contemporary Art from the Glasgow School of Art. Her Doctorate in Creative Arts from the University of Southern Queensland was focusing on embodied experiences of mental illness in contemporary art. Zlatar has taught as a Lecturer at the University of Sharjah and has taught at the University of Glasgow, KICL London, and the University of Essex (UEIC). Currently, she is a Leverhulme Research Fellow at the University of Teesside, examining art and medical ethics. Zlatar uses writing and art-making as a tool to delve into the complexity of the human experience, particularly focusing on illness, vulnerability, and authenticity. Her work draws from personal experiences & auto-ethnography to drive change. She recognizes the power in examining the unwell body and utilizes art and poetry as a means of activism, aiming to spark dialogue and create societal impact.