{{Short description|Iranian-American author (born 1986)}} {{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see :Template:Infobox Writer/doc. --> | image = Tahereh Mafi at National Book Festival 2025.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Mafi at the National Book Festival 2025 | pseudonym = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|11|9}} | birth_place = Connecticut, United States | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Author | language = | nationality = Iranian-American | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = Soka University | period = | genre = Young Adult literature | subject = | movement = | notableworks = ''Shatter Me'' | spouse = {{marriage|Ransom Riggs|2013}} | partner = | children = 1 | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = {{URL|TaherehMafi.com}} | portaldisp = }}
'''Tahereh Mafi''' (November 10, 1988) is an Iranian-American author based in Santa Monica, California. She is known for writing young adult fiction.
==Early life== Mafi was born on November 9, 1988, in a small town in Connecticut. She is the youngest child of her family and has four older brothers.<ref name="Mafi Bio" /> Mafi's parents are immigrants from Iran.<ref name=USAtoday>{{cite news|last1=Minzesheimer|first1=Bob|title=New Voices|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=J0E055347858211&site=ehost-live|access-date=3 February 2015|work=USA Today|publisher=Academic Search Complete|date=17 November 2011|page=2d}}</ref> At age 12 she moved with her family to Northern California and at age 14 they moved to Orange County.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/11/shatter-me.html|title = Not Just for Kids: Author Tahereh Mafi discusses 'Shatter Me'|date = 2011-11-28|newspaper = LA Times|language = en-US|access-date = 2016-04-20}}</ref>
Mafi graduated from University High School in Irvine, California. She later graduated from the Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo, California.<ref name="USAtoday" /> She has varying levels of competency in eight different languages. She studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain for a semester in college. During this trip she had the opportunity to be fully immersed in the Spanish language.<ref name="Mafi Bio">{{cite web|title=Tahereh Mafi Bio|url=http://www.epicreads.com/authors/tahereh-mafi/386/|work=Epic Readers: Your World. Your Books.|publisher=HarperCollins Publishing}}</ref>
== Career == Mafi stated that before writing her first novel, ''Shatter Me'', she wrote five manuscripts in order to better understand how to write a book.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/298353/lifestyle/welcome-to-tahereh-mafi-s-dystopia-in-the-shatter-me-series|title = Welcome to Tahereh Mafi's dystopia in the 'Shatter Me' series|website = GMA News Online| date=8 March 2013 |access-date = 2016-04-20}}</ref>
''Shatter Me'' was published on November 15, 2011. Since then, ''Unravel Me'' (published on February 5, 2013) and ''Ignite Me'' (published on February 4, 2014) have been released. Mafi has 5 novellas that go with the Shatter Me series, ''Destroy Me'', ''Fracture Me'', ''Shadow Me'', ''Reveal Me'', and ''Believe Me''.<ref name="Official Website">{{cite web|url=http://www.taherehbooks.com/#!the-author|title=Tahereh Mafi|work=Tahereh Mafi: young Adult Author|access-date=23 April 2014}}</ref> Film rights to ''Shatter Me'' have been purchased by 20th Century Fox.<ref name=USAtoday />
In August 2016 Mafi released ''Furthermore,'' a middle-grade fiction novel about a pale girl living in a world of great color and magic of which she has none.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/01/tahereh-mafi-furthermore|title='Shatter Me' author Tahereh Mafi previews next project, 'Furthermore'|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=2016-04-20}}</ref>
In April 2017, Mafi announced another trilogy in the Shatter Me universe following the same cast of characters. The first installment, ''Restore Me'', is told from a dual-POV from Juliette Ferrars and Warner, the protagonist and antagonist, respectively, in the original trilogy. ''Restore Me'' was published on March 6, 2018.
Mafi's next book, ''A Very Large Expanse of Sea'', was released on October 16, 2018. It was longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2018/?cat=ypl|title=National Book Awards 2018 – National Book Foundation|website=www.nationalbook.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-10-11}}</ref>
==Personal life== Mafi currently resides in Irvine, California, where she continues to write.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-ransom-riggs-tahereh-mafi-20140112-story.html|title=Ransom Riggs and Tahereh Mafi's home for bestselling authors|last=Kellogg|first=Carolyn|date=2014-01-09|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035|access-date=2016-04-20}}</ref> In 2013 she married author Ransom Riggs.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/55267/future-books-experimental-home-tahereh-mafi-and-ransom-riggs|title=The Future of Books Is Experimental: At Home with Tahereh Mafi and Ransom Riggs|website=Mental Floss|date=27 February 2014 |access-date=2016-04-20}}</ref> In March 2017, Mafi announced via Twitter that she was pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter, Layla, on 30 May 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.instagram.com/p/BUxHmiZBz6C/|website=Instagram|title=birth announcement}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/how-author-tahereh-mafi-made-her-family-friendly-kitchen-her-own/|title=How Author Tahereh Mafi Made Her Family-Friendly Kitchen Her Own|website=Architectural Digest|date=August 2, 2021}}</ref> She identifies as Muslim.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nordstrom |first=Leigh |date=2021-08-19 |title=Tahereh Mafi Explores Being a Muslim Woman in Post-9/11 America Through Her Writing |url=https://wwd.com/feature/tahereh-mafi-explores-being-a-muslim-woman-in-post-9-11-america-through-her-writing-1234901407/ |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=WWD |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Bibliography==
'''The Shatter Me series''' *''Shatter Me'' (2011) *''Unravel Me'' (2013) *''Ignite Me'' (2014) *''Restore Me'' (2018) *''Defy Me'' (2019) *''Imagine Me'' (2020)
'''Novellas''' *''Destroy Me'' (2012) *''Fracture Me'' (2013) *''Shadow Me'' (2019) *''Reveal Me'' (2019) *''Believe Me'' (2021)
'''The Shatter Me series: The New Republic''' (spin-off to '''The Shatter Me series''') *''Watch Me'' (2025) *''Release Me'' (2026) *''Escape Me'' (2026)
'''Furthermore series''' *''Furthermore'' (2016) *''Whichwood'' (2017)
'''This Woven Kingdom series''' *''This Woven Kingdom'' (2022) *''These Infinite Threads'' (2023) *''All This Twisted Glory'' (2024) *''Every Spiral of Fate'' (2025)
'''Standalones''' *''A Very Large Expanse of Sea'' (2018) *''An Emotion of Great Delight'' (2021)
'''Compilations''' *''Unite Me'' (2014) (Compilation of ''Destroy Me'' and ''Fracture Me'') *''Find Me'' (2019) (Compilation of ''Shadow Me'' and ''Reveal Me'')
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{commons category}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mafi, Tahereh}} Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American novelists Category:21st-century American women novelists Category:American writers of young adult novels Category:American women science fiction and fantasy writers Category:American writers of Iranian descent Category:Soka University of America alumni Category:Novelists from California Category:People from Irvine, California Category:American women writers of young adult literature Category:Muslims from California Category:Writers from Orange County, California