Sabaa Tahir is an American

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

novelist best known for her ''New York Times''-bestselling ''

An Ember in the Ashes ''An Ember in the Ashes'' is a fantasy novel written by American author Sabaa Tahir. It was published on April 28, 2015 by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It is the first book in the ''An Ember in the Ashes'' series, followed by ...

'', its sequels, and the novel All My Rage. Two of her novels, ''An Ember in the Ashes'' and ''A Torch Against the Night,'' were listed among ''Time'' Magazine's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time in 2020. In 2022, her novel '' All My Rage'' won the 2022

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonfiction, and P ...

, the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

for Young People's Literature and the ''

Michael L. Printz Award The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by ''Booklist'' magazine; administered by the ALA's y ...

'. Tahir has also published non-fiction reviews and essays in ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'' and ''Vox''.

Life

Tahir grew up in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

Ridgecrest, California Ridgecrest is a city in Kern County, California, United States, along U.S. Route 395 in the Indian Wells Valley in northeastern Kern County, adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWS, or China Lake). It was incorporated as a ...

with her parents and two older brothers. Her parents emigrated from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

before moving their family to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, during which time she interned at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. After graduation, she took a job there as a copy editor. She currently lives in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

Bibliography

Fantasy

An Ember in the Ashes series

* ''

'' (2015) * ''

A Torch Against the Night ''A Torch Against the Night'' is a fantasy novel written by Pakistani-American author Sabaa Tahir. It was published on August 30, 2016, by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It is the second book in the ''An Ember in the Ashes'' seri ...

'' (2016) * ''

A Reaper at the Gates ''A Reaper at the Gates'' is a fantasy novel written by Pakistani-American author Sabaa Tahir. It was published on Jun 12, 2018 by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational c ...

'' (2018) * ''A Sky Beyond the Storm'' (2020)

=Graphic novel prequel

= * ''A Thief Among the Trees'' (2020) * ''A Spark Within the Forge'' (2022) * TBA

Contemporary

*'' All My Rage'' (2022)

Short fiction

* ''Reirin'', ''

From a Certain Point of View '' Star Wars'' is an American epic space-opera media franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas that includes '' Star Wars'' (1977), ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), and ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983). The series depicts t ...

'', Del Rey, (2017) * ''Waiting'', '' Three Sides of a Heart'', ed. Natalie C. Parker, Harper Collins (2017) * ''News of the Day'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' ed. Veronica Chambers and Jeff Giles, ''

he New York Times He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

', (2019) * Forthcoming Untitled, '' Magic Has No Borders'', ed. Samira Ahmed, Harper Teen (2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahir, Sabaa Living people 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American writers of Pakistani descent Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area Year of birth missing (living people) American women novelists 21st-century American women writers Novelists from California Women science fiction and fantasy writers American writers of young adult literature Women writers of young adult literature People from Ridgecrest, California National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners