Q & A with Divya Srinivasan
By Sarah Yung
|
Jul 29, 2021
Author, illustrator, and animator Divya Srinivasan made her debut with the 2011 picture book Little Owl’s Night
, which became a bestseller and the start of a popular series. Srinivasan’s new book is What I Am
, an uplifting tale with deeply personal origins. Srinivasan spoke with PW
about microaggressions, her family’s conversations, and the significance of identity labels.
You mention the catalyst for
What I Am in your author’s note. What made you decide to make it into a book?
It was a couple of years ago. I had come home after dropping my daughter off at preschool, and I was getting ready to work on a manuscript I’d been revising for months. But first I had dishes to wash. My mind wandered, and I started thinking about an annoying interaction from the weekend.