Adiba Jaigirdar is the award-winning, critically acclaimed and bestselling author of The Henna Wars, Hani & Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating, and A Million to One. A Bangladeshi/Irish writer and former teacher, she has an MA in Postcolonial Studies from the University of Kent, England and a BA in English and History from UCD, Ireland. She is the winner of the YA Book Prize 2022, the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards 2021, and was a finalist for the 2022 Lambda Literary awards. All of her writing is aided by tea and a healthy dose of Janelle Monáe and Hayley Kiyoko. When not writing, she is probably ranting about the ills of colonialism, playing video games, or expanding her overflowing lipstick collection. She can be found at adibajaigirdar.com or @adiba_j on Twitter and @dibs_j on Instagram.
Tell us about yourself, your roots and how you inculcated flair for writing.
I was born in Bangladesh, and moved to Saudi Arabia when I was three years old. For the next six years, I lived between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, before moving to Ireland when I was ten. I think spending a significant amount of my childhood in Bangladesh was a big factor in my writing because I got the opportunity to spend time with my family and learn a lot about my culture and history. Bangladeshi culture is very big on the arts, but on literature specifically, so I grew up with a lot of emphasis placed on books and reading. When I began to develop an interest in reading and writing, it was always encouraged by my family. Moving to Ireland at an early just meant that I had exposure to yet another culture that prized literature. So, growing up between these two cultures, seeing their unique literary traditions, really encouraged me to write and it’s definitely helped shape the kind of writer I am.
Why do you write? Why do you think people should write, more so, more women?
I’ve always been a big fan of storytelling, even before I could read or write. I think storytelling is crucial to culture, expression, emotional intelligence…many things! Writing and books are just one of the ways of storytelling, and for a long time, women have definitely been left out of it, or pushed to the margins and only been allowed to write in certain genres that were deemed lesser. But storytelling is often both a reflection of society, and also a comment on it, and for that to really be valid, women need to be just as much a part of it as anybody else.
What is your latest book all about?
A Million to One is a historical novel about four girls from marginalised backgrounds who are at a point in their life where they’re unhappy and know that something needs to be done. Then the opportunity comes along for them to board the Titanic and steal a rare, prized possession that’s being transported on it (a jewel-encrusted copy of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam). The four girls know that if they can pull this off, it will transform their lives forever, so they decide to band together and board the Titanic. But they’re very different people, with ulterior motives, secrets, and more, and there’s more waiting on the Titanic than they could have anticipated.
How do you go about choosing storylines for your books?
I’m really inspired by the world around me, but I also find a lot of inspiration from the media. When I’m watching a movie or TV show, I ask myself a lot of questions, which leads me to new ideas that I want to explore. I’m really never at a loss for ideas: I have an entire spreadsheet full of them. Sometimes the trouble is figuring out which of my ideas I’ll write next, as opposed to what idea to write. Usually, if there’s an idea for a story or a character that is always on the back of my mind, that I can’t quite get rid of, then I know it’s probably time to sit down and dedicate time to that story.
As a person of South Asian roots, what is your advice to aspiring writers, especially women who would want to be like you one day?
My biggest piece of advice is to find your writing community. There’s definitely an idea out there that writing is a very solitary activity, and in some ways it is. But to really survive and thrive as a writer, it’s crucial to have a loving and supportive community behind you. To pursue writing as a career and enter into the publishing industry, can be really difficult, especially as South Asian women, so you need author friends who can understand your struggle, who you can commiserate with, and who will support you through both your successes and failures. More than that, having a supportive writing community, also helps enrich your writing. For me, I have a group of close writer friends and we share our writing with each other, give each other advice and feedback on books and publishing, and show up to sympathise when something goes wrong but also when there’s something to celebrate—be it big or small. I definitely wouldn’t be the writer I am today without them.
What do you read to write?
I read pretty extensively, and everything I read helps me to write. I read in my genres and outside of my genres. For A Million to One, I read some non-fiction history books alongside historical novels, fantasy novels, and romance novels. All of them helped with various elements of the book.
A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar is published by Hachette Children’s Group and is available now, RRP £7.99. The Dos and Donuts of Love is Adiba’s next book and publishes with Hachette Children’s Books on the 8th June 2023, RRP £7.99.
