An author who said she defied expectations to write children’s books believes her family’s love of reading helped her fulfil her dream.
Nadia Shireen, from Wellington in Shropshire, has had a series of picture books published by Penguin, but recalls growing up at a time when people from south Asian backgrounds were rarely seen as writers.
She said: “I was growing up in the 80‘s and authors were not people who like me or like my mum or dad.
“If you were south Asian, you [were] obviously encouraged to get a good education and get a steady [job], become a doctor, a lawyer, accountant, or any of those things,” she added.
What made the difference, she believes, was being encouraged to read from a young age.
She said: “I was lucky enough to grow up in a house of readers.
“Every week my mum would take me to Wellington library and she would go off and get Agatha Christies and I would go off into the children’s book area and I would have a whale of a time just kind of going through all the books.
“It was just woven into everyday life,” she said.