Atia Abawi

Atia Abawi is an Arab-American author and foreign news correspondent who has worked in the Middle East for many years. She grew up with a strong desire to become a journalist, and after graduating from Virginia Tech, she began her career at a local TV station in Maryland. Abawi later moved to Atlanta to work for CNN, where she covered international stories such as Benazir Bhutto's assassination in Pakistan and the war in Iraq. She eventually became CNN's Afghanistan correspondent and managed their Kabul bureau.

During her time in Afghanistan, Abawi traveled and embedded with U.S., NATO, and Afghan forces, covering major military operations and interviewing numerous politicians and generals. She also reported on international stories outside of Afghanistan, including the Aung San Suu Kyi trial in Myanmar and the Gaza Flotilla attack of 2010. After nearly five years in Afghanistan, Abawi moved to Jerusalem in 2013, where she currently resides with her husband and son. She continues to cover stories unfolding in the Middle East and surrounding areas as a correspondent.

Abawi's experiences in Afghanistan inspired her to write her first novel, "The Secret Sky: A Novel of Forbidden Love in Afghanistan," which was published by Philomel, an imprint of Penguin Group, in September 2014. She is fluent in Dari and Farsi and graduated from Virginia Tech, where she was later awarded the Outstanding Alumna honor. Abawi is married to FOX News Correspondent Conor Powell.