NEED TO KNOW
- Aamna Qureshi is a Pakistani-American creator based mostly in New York
- At simply 26 years previous, she has six revealed books
- In July 2025, she acquired an sudden e mail from somebody she hadn’t spoken to in over a decade after they noticed certainly one of her novels in a bookstore
When 26-year-old creator Aamna Qureshi checked her inbox lately, she didn’t look forward to finding a message that may deliver again sentimental reminiscences from over a decade in the past.
Whereas searching by means of Barnes & Noble, her eighth-grade English Honors trainer, Nicole Wallace, had noticed Qureshi’s identify on the duvet of a ebook, purchased a signed copy and despatched an e mail to congratulate her former pupil on being a broadcast creator.
For Qureshi, the message struck a deep chord — particularly since Wallace had performed such a pivotal position in her journey, a lot in order that she is lovingly talked about within the ebook’s acknowledgements. Their sudden reconnection turned a quiet, full-circle second years within the making.
“For college kids, it’s simple to recollect lecturers as a result of we’ve so few, however for lecturers, they’ve lessons of 25-30 college students yearly, so it’s a lot more durable to recollect,” Qureshi tells PEOPLE completely. “The truth that she remembered me is really touching. It actually felt like such a stroke of destiny that she discovered my ebook the way in which she did.”
Qureshi revealed her first ebook, The Girl or the Lion, in 2021 on the early age of twenty-two. It had been just a few years because the ebook’s quiet launch by means of a small unbiased writer, with restricted advertising and marketing and distribution.
Most copies had been offered on-line, making in-store sightings uncommon. The truth that her trainer occurred to seek out it at a Barnes & Noble felt like an sudden and significant coincidence. What moved her most was that Wallace acknowledged her identify in spite of everything these years.
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Aamna Qureshi/@aamna_qureshi
“I used to be completely shocked in the perfect means,” Qureshi admits. “I can’t solely describe it in phrases — which is a bit ironic, on condition that describing issues in phrases is what I do for a residing.”
Listening to from Wallace was a really pleasant shock, and her sort phrases introduced again heat reminiscences of a category that had all the time been a joyful a part of her childhood.
On the time the message arrived, Qureshi had been feeling considerably discouraged concerning the course of her profession, which made the be aware land with much more which means.
Aamna Qureshi/@aamna_qureshi
“To be trustworthy, on the time the e-mail reached me, I used to be feeling a bit low relating to the state of my profession. I used to be wishing that my books had achieved higher. I believe in some unspecified time in the future in everybody’s profession, you marvel ‘What’s the level of this?’” Qureshi admits.
Nevertheless, after emailing her former trainer again, Qureshi was relieved to be taught that she had loved studying her ebook and was extremely touched by the acknowledgements.
“Mrs. Wallace’s e mail jogged my memory why I write: as a result of I like it and all the time have. She additionally helped me to see that I used to be residing the dream of my center faculty self, and for that, I used to be proud.”
A second Qureshi nonetheless remembers with placing readability – regardless of years having handed since she was in Wallace’s class – was when the kind-hearted trainer requested her to remain after class one spring afternoon.
Given she was by no means the type of pupil who acquired in bother, she wasn’t anxious however curious concerning the request. At first, she thought her trainer needed to share a ebook suggestion together with her.
“After the bell rang…she came to visit to inform me what a rare pupil I used to be. In full earnestness, she mentioned how excited she was to see all that I’d accomplish sooner or later,” Qureshi remembers.
“I used to be so touched each by her phrases and by the truth that she took the day trip to inform me. It felt like she was one of many first individuals to imagine in me in such a means.”
Aamna Qureshi/@aamna_qureshi
Qureshi grew up in New York and was one of many few Muslim college students in her total district. Eighth grade was additionally the primary 12 months Qureshi began sporting a hijab to high school – making her really feel “misplaced and nervous.”
Nonetheless, she emphasizes that her lecturers had been all the time “sort, supportive, and respectful,” which gave her the boldness to jot down tales that authentically expressed her id as a Pakistani-American.
“Like most center schoolers, I used to be not sure, afraid, and missing confidence. I had no thought what the longer term held, and dreaming large felt pointless, like an excessive amount of of a danger,” Qureshi says.
“Encouragement at such a time can change the trajectory of your life. It makes all of the distinction to know that there’s somebody rooting for you, somebody who believes in you.”
Aamna Qureshi/@aamna_qureshi
Immediately, Qureshi is the creator of six revealed books, together with her seventh set to be launched in late August 2025. She primarily writes tales centered on her heritage and faith.
“In my early years, I confronted loads of racist rejections on account of that truth, however I knew that if I stored working, I’d finally discover like-minded people to work with, and fortuitously, I did,” she shares. “My favourite a part of this job is receiving messages from readers who’ve resonated or loved my work; it makes all of the tough work getting revealed value it.”
When providing recommendation to younger writers hoping to get revealed, she acknowledges it’s a “tough pursuit,” however believes that with persistence and belief in your personal voice, even essentially the most formidable desires are inside attain.
