B I O :

the abridged version: 

Razan Abdin (she/her) is a writer currently based in Little Rock, Arkansas—on the ancestral land of the Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw people. A daughter of the Palestinian diaspora, she was born and raised in the U.S. South and spent many summers in her homeland. When Razan isn’t busy arranging words into picture books, middle-grade, and young-adult fiction, she can be found sipping lavish amounts of coffee, filling her life with music, learning how to dismantle systems of oppression, or daydreaming.

Razan’s writing for young people is represented by Tricia Lawrence at Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

the (relatively) unabridged version:

Razan Abdin (she/her) is a children’s book writer, former educator, and consultant currently based in North Texas. She was an early childhood educator for nearly a decade. In addition to writing for young people, she facilitates workshops to educators and caregivers, and creates social-justice curriculum. Razan was roughly nine hours shy of a degree in English/Creative Writing before deciding to pursue a more “practical” path. She holds a BA in International Studies and Middle Eastern Studies, a master’s degree in Education, an Association Montessori International (AMI) diploma, and postpartum doula training through DONA International. A Gemini with ADHD, Razan never stood a chance on a “sensible,” linear path. Luckily, as a writer, she doesn’t have to choose one singular path…

In addition to the hobbies mentioned above, Razan enjoys reading, exploring the outdoors, traveling, eating delicious food, baking, indulging in television shows and films, and she especially loves doing nothing at all. She has been scribbling down stories since elementary school. Once she became a reader herself, she devoured books. Though, in retrospect, Razan never saw herself reflected in the literature she loved. There were no Palestinian protagonists. No neurodivergent heroes. No Muslim main characters. It didn’t help that she was also the only Arab and Muslim child in her neighborhood and throughout her K-12 schooling…

As a teenager, she won a few writing competitions and was invited to the Arkansas State Capitol twice to read her selected poems and essays. Random fun fact: she burst into tears by the end of each reading—mostly because she was terrified of public speaking and anxious beyond measure. Conveniently, she was able to play it off as being moved by the content of the work (with themes of identity, belonging, and mental illness). She served as the editor of her high school literary magazine. During this chapter of life, her creative writing and journalism classes were the only slivers of schooling that engaged her.

During her undergraduate studies, Razan taught English to high school students in Turkey, tutored adult learners in literacy skills in Arkansas, studied Arabic, and conducted comparative education research in Jordan. Her final project ended up being the beginning of a memoir (with bits of research woven in) exploring culture, identity, and familial relationships, especially in the context of her experience as a third culture kid—a Palestinian growing up in the U.S. South. Oh, the sticky in-betweenness…

Razan’s interest in education and literacy as social justice issues was born. Her belief that education and liberation are inextricably linked was cemented. Equipped with passion and an idealistic hope to transform society—one child at a time, she went on to obtain a graduate degree in education and Montessori teacher training. Razan spent several years as an educator in Montessori and Reggio-inspired classrooms. She immersed herself in the study of constructivist, culturally-responsive practices and went on to facilitate workshops to educators and caregivers around the world. She’s still actively learning what it looks like to be in principled struggle with all oppressed people around the globe.

Amid the pandemic in 2020—Razan relocated from New York City back to the South. Dealing with chronic illness and pain, she made the difficult decision to leave the classroom. At the same time, a magical opportunity to write literacy curriculum for a major textbook publisher landed in her lap. At the end of that utterly disastrous year, in desperate search of a creative outlet, Razan signed up for a Stand-Up Joke Writing Class through Second City on a whim. It re-acquainted her with her lifelong dream of being a writer.

Shortly thereafter, she enrolled in a Children’s Book Writing class that she had been eyeing for years. There, she began learning how to write manuscripts for young readers in earnest. She hasn’t stopped writing stories for children since…

After all of that side-stepping… she’s back to fervently writing (stories! curriculum! bad jokes!) as though her life depends on it.

The rest is history…