Jasmine Warga

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Jasmine Warga
Jasmine Warga 2022 Texas Book Festival.jpg
Born (1988-04-24) April 24, 1988 (age 36)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
OccupationAuthor
Years active2015 — present

Jasmine Warga (born April 24, 1988) is an American children's and young adult book author. Her free verse book Other Words for Home received a Newbery Honor in 2020. [1] Her novel "A Rover's Story" was a #1 New York Times bestseller.

Contents

Early life and education

Warga was born in Cincinnati to an American mother and immigrant Jordanian father. [2] [3] [4] She graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in history and art history. She also earned her MFA in creative writing at Lesley University. [5] [3] After graduating college, Warga worked as a sixth grade science teacher in Texas. While still teaching, she began writing stories. [3]

Career

Warga's debut novel, My Heart and Other Black Holes , published in 2015, is about depressed and suicidal teenagers. Warga was inspired to write the young adult novel after the unexpected death of a close friend. [6] Her 2019 children's book about a Syrian refugee living in Ohio, Other Words for Home , [7] won a Newbery Honor as well as other awards. [4] She was inspired to write the book after visiting a Syrian family friend in 2013 and watching the interactions between his cousins born in America and cousins who had come to America from Syria. [2] In her research over the course of writing the book, she interviewed members of Cincinnati's Syrian community. [8]

Personal life

Warga lives in Naperville, Illinois [9] with her family. She teaches at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in addition to her writing career. [3] [5]

Works

References

  1. ↑ de León, Concepción (January 27, 2020). "Graphic Novel Wins Newbery Medal for the First Time". The New York Times. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Emily Earle. "A Syrian kid moves to Ohio in Jasmine Warga's middle-grade novel". Why We Write (Podcast). Lesley University. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "bio". jasminewarga.com. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  4. 1 2 Rosenzweig-Ziff, Daniel (March 6, 2020). "Chatting with ... Jasmine Warga". Northwestern Magazine. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Jasmine Warga - Vermont College of Fine Arts". Vermont College of Fine Arts. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  6. ↑ Herrington, Sarah (February 9, 2015). "Jasmine Warga's Unromanticized Depression". Interview Magazine. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  7. ↑ Wick, Jessica P. (May 30, 2019). "These 'Words For Home' Are Poetic And Powerful". NPR. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  8. ↑ Grochowski, Sara (May 21, 2019). "Q & A with Jasmine Warga". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  9. ↑ Baker, Suzanne (January 28, 2020). "Naperville author's novel for middle school students receives coveted Newbery Honor Book sticker". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
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