Swati Avasthi

Updated on Dec 03, 2023

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Spouse(s) John Yopp		Name Swati Avasthi

Born Early 1970s India Children Two, a son and a daughter

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Swati Avasthi is an Indian American writer of fiction and a teacher. Her first young adult novel, Split, receiving several awards including Cybils Young Adult Fiction Award and a Parents’ Choice 2010 Silver Award. In 2009, her short story "Swallow" was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and was listed in 2009 Best American New Voices collection. Chasing Shadows is her second novel, published in 2013.

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She has taught for Hamline University, at the Anoka-Ramsey Community College, and at the Loft Literary Center in the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs.

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Biography

Avasthi moved from India to Albuquerque, where she studied till the age of 18 and her desire was to become a fiction writer. She went to the University of Chicago for a bachelors in humanities with an emphasis on theater. Before studying law, she started working at Victory Gardens Theater for a year. For three years she worked for the Pro Bono Advocates in Cook County in the role of a paralegal and coordinator in the domestic violence clinic. She provided legal assistance in the civil court to abuse victims seeking emergency orders.

She was married at a young age to John Yopp and the pair moved to Minnesota in 1997. Shortly after, Avasthi gave birth to her first child, a son. She then decided to pursue studies for a degree in law and took a two-year sabbatical from her job. However, in 2000 she left law studies and became a housewife before the birth of her daughter in 2001. Avasthi began writing after leaving law school. She then decided to develop her writing skills at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. She also worked in 2006 in a small role in the Loft Mentor Series program. Here she coordinated with Pete Hautman, a young adult author, and Shay Youngblood, a writer of novels and plays; simultaneously she pursued studies for an MFA at the University of Minnesota. In 2006 she also taught at Hamline University and later at Minnesota University. Here she received a fellowship from the University to complete her debut novel Split, which she finished by 2008. She revised the manuscript eight times before she put it up for publication. It was put to auction and the first bidder, Knopf, published it in 2010. Her second novel is Bidden, which was also published in 2012 by Knopf.