We were lucky to catch up with Olivia Abtahi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Olivia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents ALWAYS encouraged me to read. We didn’t have a ton of resources growing up, but buying me books was always a priority. We went to the library every week and when I’d run out of books they’d happily drive me back.

I remember once when I was very little, I was grounded, and I went to my room and just read for a while.

When my mom came to tell me my timeout was over, she caught me reading and enjoying myself, and that’s when they had to start grounding me with “no books”! That definitely made me behave better, because I couldn’t handle the thought of not having them.

Olivia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Picture Book author with Penguin Random House. My debut novel, PERFECTLY PARVIN, launched in May 2021 to multiple starred reviews, best-of lists, and an SCBWI Honor and ALA Odyssey Honor. The book follows Parvin Mohammadi, a 14-year-old who has just been brutally dumped for being “too loud.” In order to save face, she vows to get a homecoming date and completely revamp her personality. But along the way, Parvin has to grapple with European beauty standards, a racist immigration system, and a boy who confusingly likes her just the way she is. Buzzfeed calls it “Hilarious and heartfelt.”

My next book, AZAR ON FIRE, comes out August 23rd and features Azar Rossi, a 14yo instrumentalist and songwriter who suffers from vocal nodules (like me!). When she’s hoodwinked into playing at the battle of the bands for her high school, she has to do something she never has before: make friends. Enlisting the popular jock of her grade to sing, Azar fills out the rest of the band with a motley cast of characters who teach her that no man is an island, and connection is everything.

ROSTAM AND THE RED DWARF, my middle grade novel, comes out in 2024 and is a re-telling of the Shahnameh, the Persian Book of Kings, set in space! That’s all I’m allowed to say for now but it was a blast to write and I can’t wait to share more.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was that my writing doesn’t need to be beautiful. I would write these gorgeous, honey-soaked sentences that were too cloying to be an entire book. With my novel PERFECTLY PARVIN I finally gave myself permission to write in plain-speak, the way I talk, and let settings be funny and authentic. After years of reading literary fiction for school, it felt like treason to write this way, but I’m glad I did.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I love being my own boss. I love setting my own schedule and deciding what I get to work on. It takes a lot of self-discipline, but after a lot of 9-5 jobs, I know this is the way I work best.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.oliviaabtahi.com
• Instagram: @oliviaabtahi
• Other: tiktok: @oliviaabtahi

Image Credits
copyright Heritage and Bloom