About the Authors
Mitali Perkins is the author of Rickshaw Girl, a New York Public Library Top 100 Book; Tiger Boy, a Junior Library Guild selection; and You Bring the Distant Near, among other novels. Mitali was born in Kolkata, India, and has lived in Bangladesh, India, England, Thailand, Mexico, Cameroon, and Ghana. She resides in San Francisco, where she is a lecturer at Saint Mary’s College of California.
Veera Hiranandani earned her MFA in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She is the author of The Whole Story of Half a Girl, which was named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book and a South Asian Book Award Finalist. A former book editor at Simon & Schuster, she now teaches creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College’s Writing Institute and Writopia Lab.
Aisha Saeed is the author of Written in the Stars (Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books, 2015) which was listed as a best book of 2015 by Bank Street Books, a 2016 YALSA Quick Pick For Reluctant Readers, and named one of the top ten books all Young Georgians Should Read in 2016. She is also the author of the middle grade novel Amal Unbound (Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books, 2018) which has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus and is a Global Read Aloud for 2018. She also has a forthcoming picture book Bilal Cooks Daal (Simon & Schuster/Salaam Reads, 2019). Aisha is also a founding member of the nonprofit We Need Diverse Books. She has been featured on MTV, the Huffington Post, NBC, and the BBC, and her writings have appeared in publications including the journal ALAN and the Orlando Sentinel.
Aisha is represented by Taylor Martindale at Full Circle Literary Agency and lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and three sons.
Sayantani DasGupta grew up hearing stories about brave princesses, bloodthirsty rakkhosh, and flying pakkhiraj horses. She is a pediatrician by training but spends most of her time teaching undergraduates and graduate students at Columbia University. When she’s not writing, Sayantani spends time with her family and is a team member of We Need Diverse Books.
Hena Khan is a Pakistani American writer. She is the author of the novel Amina’s Voice and the first three books in the Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream series: Power Forward, On Point, and Bounce Back. She has also written a number of picture books, including Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, Under My Hijab, and It’s Ramadan, Curious George. Hena lives in Rockville, Maryland, with her husband and two sons.
Rajani LaRocca is the author of fiction, nonfiction, picture books, and poetry. She was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area, where she practices medicine and writes. Find her online at RajaniLaRocca.com and on Twitter and Instagram @rajanilarocca.
Supriya Kelkar is the author of books include Ahimsa, The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh, American as Paneer Pie, and That Thing about Bollywood, among others. born and raised in the American Midwest, learned Hindi as a child by watching three Hindi movies a week. She is a screenwriter who has worked on the writing teams for several Hindi films and one Hollywood feature. Supriya’s books include Ahimsa, The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh, American as Paneer Pie, and That Thing about Bollywood, among others. Visit her online at SupriyaKelkar.com.
Reem Faruqi is the ALA Notable author of Lailah’s Lunchbox, Amira’s Picture Day, I Can Help, and Unsettled, which is loosely based on her own story. Of Pakistani descent, she immigrated to Peachtree City, Georgia, in the United States from the United Arab Emirates when she was thirteen years old. She is also a teacher and photographer who loves to doodle. Visit her online at www.reemfaruqi.com.