Nafiza Azad

Nafiza Azad is a Fijian-Canadian young adult fiction fantasy author. Her debut novel, The Candle and the Flame, was released in 2019.

Nafiza Azad
NationalityFijian, Canadian
Alma materUniversity of British Columbia
OccupationWriter
Notable workThe Candle and the Flame (2019)

Early life and education

Azad was born in Lautoka, Fiji.[1] Opportunities to access reading materials were limited. Her hometown only contained one library, and readers could only borrow two books at a time, so Azad and her friends often made up stories for entertainment.[2] In 2001, aged seventeen, she moved to Canada with her family.[3] Azad entered the University of British Columbia in 2007, initially majoring in biology with the aim of becoming a doctor. However, she later elected to major in English instead, and to aspire to a career in writing.[2] Her thesis consisted of a novel, which she claims to have written after a professor told her not to.[3] Her thesis advisor was Maggie de Vries.[4] Azad currently lives in Vancouver.[4]

Career

Azad's first work, The Candle and the Flame, was published by Scholastic in 2019. She credits American author G. Willow Wilson- who, like her, is both female and Muslim- as a major influence on her decision to pursue a writing career, stating that reading Wilson's novel Alif the Unseen made her feel “as though I had finally found a reflection […] I had a right to my own adventures”, subsequently inspiring her to write fiction of her own.[2] Additionally, she cites S.A. Chakraborty's novel The City of Brass and Franny Billingsley's Chime as influences on the plot and writing style of The Candle and the Flame.[5] As an author, she is represented by Katelyn Detwailer at Jill Grinberg Literary Management.[6]

She is currently a co-founder of, and writer and administrator at Book Wars.[7]

In addition, she has contributed to the YA anthology "Come on In". She is also the editor for the upcoming anthology Writing in Color: The Lessons We've Learned, set to be released in August 2023.

Works

The Candle and the Flame (2019)

The Candle and the Flame is Azad's debut novel. It was first published on March 1, 2019, by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.[8][9]

The novel is set in the fictional Silk Road city of Noor, in which humans and Djinn- supernatural spirits from Islamic folklore- live side by side. Its plot follows a young woman named Fatima, who is one of the sole survivors of a massacre that wiped out the city's original population, and who becomes entangled in the conflict between its human inhabitants, the Ifrit (a class of Djinn) and evil spirits known as the Shayateen. The city is inspired by and contains elements of South Asian and Middle Eastern cultures, with the novel containing words in Arabic, Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi.[10]

Reception for the novel was generally favourable. Caitlyn Paxson, writing for NPR, praised Azad's capacity for worldbuilding, noting in particular the novel's 'attention to detail and dedication to language'.[11] Booklist's Author Rena Barron noted the novel's 'lush, elaborate world-building', stating that it was 'a must-read for people who love fantasy brimming with beautiful writing and mythology'; it was also praised by other authors of Young Adult and genre fiction including Rachel Hartman, Rebecca Lim and Ausma Zehanat Khan.[12]

The Wild Ones (2021)

The rights to Azad's second young adult novel, The Wild Ones: A Broken Anthem for a Girl Nation, were acquired by Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster's Children's Division, in March 2020.[13] Following a group of young girls with magical abilities in a narrative with multiple perspectives and feminist themes, the novel was published on August 2021.[14]

Bibliography

Accolades

Azad has received nominations for the following awards:

  • 2020
    • William C. Morris YA Debut Award for The Candle and the Flame (finalist).[15]
    • Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic for The Candle and the Flame (long-listed).[16]
  • 2023
    • Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards for Road of the Lost (winner)[17]

References
  1. Northington, Jenn (6 November 2019). "Transcript: Jeanette Winterson and Nafiza Azad". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  2. "Nafiza Azad". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  3. "Author of the Month: Nafiza Azad". The Missing Slate. 2015-09-18. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  4. Hershberger, Katy. "First Flames: An Interview Between Debut Authors Hafsah Faizal and Nafiza Azad". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  5. Nadia (2019-05-10). "Author Spotlight | Interview With Nafiza Azad". headscarves & hardbacks. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  6. "Nafiza Azad – Jill Grinberg Literary Management". Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  7. "Who We Are". The Book Wars. 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  8. "Nafiza Azad Books, Author Biography, and Reading Level | Scholastic". www.scholastic.com. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  9. release, Access to Booklist Online is free through August 31 Read the. Candle and the Flame, by Nafiza Azad | Booklist Online.
  10. Azad, Nafiza (2019). The candle and the flame (First ed.). New York. ISBN 978-1-338-30604-0. OCLC 1050609229.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. "Language Has Magic In 'The Candle And The Flame'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  12. "The Candle and the Flame | IndieBound.org". www.indiebound.org. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  13. "Rights Report: Week of March 2, 2020". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  14. "Deal Announcement: THE WILD ONES by Nafiza Azad – Jill Grinberg Literary Management". Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  15. Associated Press (4 December 2019). "Five Finalists Announced for William C. Morris Book Award". U.S. News. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  16. "Sunburst Award longlist includes André Alexis, Johanna Skibsrud, Richard Van Camp". Quill and Quire. 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  17. "Canadian YA author Nafiza Azad among winners of the 2023 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards". cbc. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
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