Atia Abawi

"A Land of Permanent Goodbyes" will be released on January 2018 and has received early positive reviews, earning three separate starred views.

"A Land of Permanent Goodbyes" was chosen by both Kirkus Reviews and Amazon as one of 2018 best Young Adult books of the year. While the All Iowa Reading program selected it as its 2019 Young Adult book.

In December 2016, Penguin's Philomel Books announced Abawi's second novel, "A Land of Permanent Goodbyes."

"The Secret Sky" has received acclaim for its accurate portrayal of Afghanistan, Islamic fundamentalism and for including diverse characters especially a strong female. The Amelia Bloomer Project included "The Secret Sky" on its 2015 list of books that provide a "glimpse at the diverse experiences of girls and women globally."

Atia Abawi is an American author and television journalist. Previously working for NBC News and CNN as a foreign correspondent. She was based in Kabul, Afghanistan for almost five years. Her first book, the critically acclaimed "The Secret Sky: A Novel of Forbidden Love in Afghanistan" was published by Penguin Random House in September 2014. Abawi is known for her strong support for female empowerment in both her writing and reporting. She is fluent in Dari and is a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Abawi was born in West Germany to Afghan parents who fled Afghanistan following the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and was raised in the United States. After graduating from Virginia Tech, Abawi worked as a reporter CTV 76 –a local TV station in Largo, Maryland, before moving to Atlanta to work for CNN and then NBC News.

After nearly five years of living and working in Afghanistan, Abawi moved to Jerusalem in January 2013. In that year, she covered U.S. President Barack Obama's historic trip to Israel, the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état, and the Westgate shopping mall attack by Al-Shabaab militants among other stories.

Atia is married to former Fox News Foreign Correspondent Conor Powell. They were married on July 7, 2012 in Leesburg, Virginia While at Virginia Tech, Abawi was a member of the Delta Zeta sorority.

While in Afghanistan, Abawi embedded with U.S., NATO and Afghan forces numerous times -including during the major U.S and ISAF military operation in Marjah, Afghanistan in 2010.

Outside of Afghanistan, she was part of a CNN team that had to sneak into Myanmar to cover the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi. Abawi also led CNN's coverage from Jerusalem of the Gaza Flotilla attack of 2010 by Israeli forces.

In 2010, NBC News hired Abawi as its Afghanistan correspondent and bureau chief. Additionally, she reported from London as part of NBC's Royal wedding coverage, and was a part of the NBC News special coverage following the U.S. raid that killed Osama Bin Laden- providing analysis and commentary. In 2012, Atia interviewed Afghan President Hamid Karzai - the first interview of the Afghan President for the network in a decade.

At CNN, Abawi started in the Media Operations department before working her way up to producer and then to foreign correspondent. In 2008, she was named CNN's Afghanistan correspondent and manager of its Kabul bureau. Before Afghanistan, she worked on several prominent international stories including the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the 2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan and Youssif, the young Iraqi boy burned by insurgents in Iraq.