Author Jasmine Warga Discusses Writing and Identity with Upper School

Award-winning young adult author Jasmine Warga told Upper School students about her love of reading, her writing process, and her ability to relate difficult topics to young readers at the Between the Pages event held in The Schiff Center. “Storytelling has enormous power and shows how we relate to our culture and society,” Warga said.  Warga, a Jordanian-American and Cincinnati native, frequently writes about immigrant experiences and identity in her novels, saying it feels like a safe space to explore it. Her novel “Other Words for Home” follows a young girl who flees Syria and goes to live with relatives in Cincinnati, where she grapples with what it means to be Middle Eastern in America. “I want my books to help broker difficult conversations. I want to write books that can start a conversation and broaden the dialogue so we can build a better world,” she said. Her other novels center around the immigrant experience, teen mental health, and gun violence in America. Warga answered student questions about the publishing industry, character development, plotting, and following her dream of becoming an author.